ALIENS built the Ram Setu

There has been so much recent controversy about the Ram Setu (or the Adam's bridge). Here's the latest twist on this topic: (Article in HT).

I mean, even the famous Jayalalitha herself has taken interest in this [Article here]. And we all know, that Jayalalitha barely has any free time from putting DMK's people in jail and spending all the "under-the-table" money on shopping. So why in M.G.R's name is she taking so much interest in this. What interest could she possibly have in Ram and Sita? I would totally understand if this was an issue regarding Draupadi from Mahabharat. Oh don't you know?? Playing Draupadi is the dream role for our Amma. Why do you think she has all those sarees in her hundred closets. She is preparing for the "cheer-haran" scene. She is just gonna tie up all her sarees together, which Duhshasan will go on pulling and pulling. She wouldn't even need any Lord krishna to protect her. Cause she is a modern day Draupadi. She is not dependent on MEN!!! She can take care of herself!! Score one for Women's Lib!!!

Anyways, that mystery will never be solved (unless its as simple as vote-bank politics). But having read like a hundred articles on this issue, I totally decided to apply my brainy brain to this mystery. So what is this Ram Setu? Does it exist? Or was it destroyed? Who built it? Who destroyed it? So many queations. And even more answers (upper bounded by the number of political parties in India). I totally had to upgrade my brain to the latest quad-core processor from Intel and run a genetic algorithm, followed by a taboo-search on all the possible solutions to locate the global optima (holy crap!! I have no idea what I just wrote. But sounds cool!!).

So here's a NASA pic of the so-called Ram Setu:



Now I agree, there definitely seems to be some thing there. At the same time, the Indian Government had declared earlier, in all its glory, that Ram himself did not exist!!! (wait..I gotta laugh for a couple of minutes... not because I really believe that Ram existed, but just because some one could say that in this country!!). So then WHO BUILT IT???

I propose, with a lot of probability, that ALIENS BUILT THE RAM SETU!!!
Yes, don't laugh!!! Before you declare me as crazy, read this:
Article 1. And this: Article 2. And if you don't believe random people, even FOX NEWS did a report on this: FOX news Article. YES!! The Egyptian Pyramids were built by the ALIENSSS!!!!! If that's possible, then why not the Ram Setu!!! In fact, that Vanar Sena (Monkey Army) in Ramayan, was definitely a bunch of ALIENS. I mean, how else do you explain half-human and half-monkey living forms!! HELLOO!!! Haven't you seen Star Wars!!! Or Planet of the Apes!!! Any thing half-monkey and half-human is an ALIEN!!! It was beyond human technology to build a floating bridge. It had to be people from outer space!!!

Believe it or not, I am dead sure this is the case. At present, the Indian Government has decided that the Ram Setu is not a national monument. Ofcourse it is not!!! It has to be a "monument" first, to become a "national monument". Just dredge the damn place, and be done with it. Different versions of Ramayan say different things!!! If this was truly God's work, then there would just be one version of it!!! So either the frickin ALIENS built it, or it was never there. Period.

Tussi to bade mazzakiya ho...

DISCLAIMER: This post is intended in good humor and is not intended to hurt any one's sentiments. Please do not feel offended and enjoy the post, as is the writer's intention. If you do feel offended, well too bad, cause I am protected by the First Amendment.

So I was reading this blog post recently about the number of Punjabis in Canada. It was a pretty funny post and kinda got me thinking how Punjabi people usually have this fun quotient attached with them. You hear some one is a Punjabi and you immediately get this funny picture in your mind. You know that that person is gonna be fun to hang around with.

I happen to have a few Punjabi friends (fortunately or unfortunately). And one thing that usually comes up in our conversations is the funny accent with which Punjabi people speak Hindi at times. I mean, you have seen Hindi movies right. From DDLJ to Love Story 2050. They all have funny Punjabi characters speaking in hilarious Punjabi accents. So I decided to make a small list of some words which you may hear Punjabi people use, but you may interpret them wrongly. First comes the word in English (as used by every one else), and then comes the interpretation if you hear it from a Punjabi person. The key is to take the short sounding vowel-less word, and expand it by trying some combinations of different vowels.


1) sport: an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, etc.

If a Punjabi says sport, what he means is "support" : to bear or hold up, to sustain or withstand


2) pronto: promptly; quickly

If a Punjabi says pronto, what he means is "parantha": Indian bread made from wheat flour, usually stuffed with potatoes, cheese, carrots, cauliflower or any vegetable you want. Eaten with butter, pickle, ketchup or what ever you want.

3) prada: well-known Italian fashion house with retail outlets worldwide.

If a Punjabi says prada, what he means is "pra da": belonging to or owned by (elder) brother

4) kannada: language spoken in Karnataka, India, 27th most spoken language in the world

If a Punjabi says kannada, what he means is "the country Canada": northern neighbor of US, the Punjab of North America, mostly inhabited along the border with US

5) brack: a stain, flaw or crack

If a Punjabi says brack: what he means is "Barack Obama": democratic presidential nominee 2008

6) cracked: broken or damaged

If a Punjabi says cracked: what he means is "correct": accurate, conforming to fact or truth

So there's your little tutorial in dealing with Punjabi people!! If you got any more, put them in the comments!! And once again, no offense!!

Life of S ~ The Russian Roulette... Vol. V (The Final Showdown)

continued from here

We all knew within our hearts that we were being treated no less than dogs, in the most inhuman ways that could be. Infact, a Somalian guy came up to S and said that it was neither person's fault, but the fault of our skin color. Coming from Asian and African countries was considered as a crime here. Luckily for him, he was the next person to be called. An amazing kid, speaking six different languages including Arabic, English, Swahili, Somalian and others, he bid good bye to his Egyptian friends as he left the room.

With the grace of God, and to S's good fortune, he was next in line. The cop entered the room again with his passport and ticket. The cop didn’t say much, and just asked S to pick his luggage and follow him. Interestingly, they never gave S his luggage and he was pretty sure that it had found its way to the lost and found department of the airport (or may be the flea market of Moscow). He never ceased to find new problems for himself. But the important thing was that he was out of a big mess. As he left the room, he wished the rest of the people good luck and could only pray to God to help them as well. He didn’t have the courage to look at the agony in their eyes and he walked out of there as fast as he could.

It took about half an hour before he got his luggage and moved towards the green channel to face yet another problem. A Russian lady officer stood there, giving S another set of strange looks as he approached her. As S reached her, she spoke a few Russian words, only to find S confused as usual. After a lot of trying to understand each other, S found out that she wanted the customs card that was to be filled. The only thing S remembered about the customs card was when he asked for it on the flight to fill it up and the air hostess told him that it was not required. Great!!! S was in another mess. He tried explaining this to the officer, but she failed to understand (how typical!!!). Finally she gave up on him and luckily decided to ignore it, asking me to go ahead and get the hell out of there. Phew, S was finally out of the damn place after 23 hours of being held captive. What a relief!!!

As S walked outside, he looked at all the placards, expecting one of them to read either his name, or the name of his company. Not to his surprise, all the placards were in Russian. He tried to recollect the little Russian he had studied about three years back in college and tried to make sense of the words, thinking that the company representative was probably Russian. He also cross-checked it with the name written on his visa, which was in Russian too. He realized that the misfortune was not yet over. There were no placards with either his name or the company’s name written. The little processing that his brain could do, told him that he should contact the company again and ask them about the representative. The only problem now was that there were no public telephones on the airport. So S found this African guy and asked if he could use his cell phone. He refused saying that he didn’t have any balance left. So S offered him money in exchange and wallah…there he was making calls again, collecting telephone numbers of people he had never met, calling them, and giving descriptions of himself. Finally, a young gentleman from the company came to his rescue and got him out of there. During the ride, he asked S what had happened and after hearing S's story, told him that he made a mistake by telling the authorities that he was here to work. He said that Indians don’t have a very good reputation around the world as they emmigrate all over, wherever they get an opportunity, and hence S got caught up. Instead, S should have said that he was here for business meetings and would attend a couple of conferences etc. He made S realize that in today’s world honesty has no place.

At the end of the day, when S sits back and thinks about the whole thing, he feels that he has changed over a period of time. He realizes how patient he had become. Had he been in the same place 3-4 years back, he would have gone up to the cop and punched him in the face. Probably even a year ago, he would have at the least shouted his lungs out. But here he was, sitting peacefully with no worries. He was worried, and may be even nervous, but rather than getting upset and crying over the whole situation, he was thinking of ways of getting out of it. He was thinking of the positive side of life, not that there were many, but thoughts like may be he won't have to go to work in Siberia any more, did come to his mind. Life is all about learning and such experiences only make you stronger. You become more prepared for tougher situations in life. After all, unless we face the unpleasant situations in life, we would never be able to cherish the beauty of life and how much easier it is on a normal day.

S is sure that all the people close to him are shocked and worried about my state of mind after going through the so called hell in those 24 hours, and to them he says, YOUR BOY IS MUCH STRONGER THAN ALL THIS. IT WILL TAKE A LOT MORE TO BRING HIM DOWN TO HIS KNEES (unless it’s a gal, though in which case I think it should be the gal going down on the knees.... ahem...). HE’S STILL SMILING THE WAY HE ALWAYS DOES, AS IF NOTHING BIG HAD EVER HAPPENED.
His friends often ask him, “WHY ALWAYS YOU??” and his reply to them is that may be I’M THE CHOSEN ONE… THE ONE. Just kidding….

The entire Life of S series is a true story, with only the names changed and a few details left out. The story was originally written by my very dear friend S, and then edited and published on this blog by me. The story is in no way a reflection of Russia as a country and how things happen there (it could have happened with S any where). He has several such anecdotes up his sleeves, and hope fully we will see a few more on this blog.

Life of S ~ The Russian Roulette ... Vol. IV

continued from here


As he opened his eyes, S realized that his watch read 8 in the morning and he had an hour left before he could make things happen in his favor, or atleast give it a try. His thought process at that time didn’t let him realize that it had been 18 hours that he had spent at the airport. He was only concentrating on his plan of action. He knew that he had to contact SP in India to ask what the progress was, and before that find out from the cops what was it that they wanted from him, before he would be let free. He tried to smoothen down his hair and look as fresh, neat and presentable as possible. He thought that the cop who got him into all this was probably off duty by now, and it was kind of a fresh start with only one problem; now he had to start from inside the prison, which was not going to help him much.

But he had no choice left but to keep trying. His eyes were on his watch and as it struck 9 AM, a cop entered again. S asked his translator to talk to him and he was told a new story this time. He was first asked his nationality again. On hearing India, the cop said that he could be let free if his company representatives came to the airport to pick him up. "Damn you!!" Could you not say this in the first place!!! S would have tried to get this done right from the beginning. Anyhow, now he got the feeling that there was a future and he could get his ass out of there. The next problem was that the public phone was no longer public. So S had to find a new resort. His Kazak friend was like a walking-talking database of all the people in the room. He told S that there was another lady who had a cell phone and now again each call would come at a cost. With no choice, S made two calls @ USD $5 per call. The first call was to SP, informing him about the new situation and telling him what was needed to be done henceforth. S then called up Svetlana, a lady at the Company office in Moscow. The language problem was bound to arise again and so he asked his dear old friend, the translator, to tell her about the situation.

Interestingly, the translator didn’t know S's name. So S showed him a bracelet with his name written on it. S was so thankful to his friend PC for this wonderful gift on his previous trip to Mumbai. Finally things started falling in place when Svetlana told us that she was aware of the situation and she was writing a letter to the Passport Control Office. She told S that it was only a matter of time before he would be out of there. This was really motivating!! Soon, at around 10.30 AM, S received a call from one of his managers, Edmund. He was very concerned about the way S was being treated and the way S spent the night at the airport. It felt nice to know that the company he worked for was concerned and that they were trying to do their best in getting him out. He told S to relax, something he was already doing by then, and that not to worry. S will be out of there very soon. S just replied, “Take your time!!” because another hour or two would make no more a difference to the time he had spent there. He was cool as a cucumber at that stage and his sixth sense told him that he will be out of there in a couple of hours in the worst case.

Thereafter, S plugged in his IPod into his ears and decided to take some rest. Each time the cops opened the door, S hoped that it was to call him. On one such cameo by the cop, he told S's Ethiopian friends that they would not be allowed to catch their flight to Cuba and instead would be sent back home. What a pity!! As for S, destiny had something else in store. He was not the first one to leave. First, an elderly man got the call. S was not sure whether he was being sent on a flight back home or whether he had someone waiting for him outside!! Nevertheless, the old man was happy to leave either ways. As he moved out of the room, he bid good bye to all the new friends he had made in this encounter and there was an emotional touch to the whole situation. Most of the people in the room envied him on one had, and at the same time felt happy for him as he left the prison. There were others in the room who had spent a week there and had found themselves a new home.They didn’t care less about anyone entering or leaving the room. The had their luggage spread in one corner and were getting comfortable to the life out there, watching air-planes land, people getting off the flights, new people getting onto the flights and the planes leaving.

to be continued...

Life of S ~ The Russian Roulette ... Vol. III

continued from here...

By the time S managed to get some sleep, a good 10 hours had passed by on the airport. His watch was ticking, but every minute seemed like an hour. His laptop batery was dead, and his IPod battery had one leg in the grave.

It was only a matter of time that S realized that every person in the room was a respectable person. Contrary to his initial thoughts, they all turned out to be really nice people, and time started flying by as we tried to make conversation in the most traditional sign language that existed way back in time. It was funny, and yet amazing, that in-spite of all the odds, we managed to express ourselves. During one such conversation, one of the English speaking guys from Kazakasthan came up to me and asked from which country I was. The moment I proudly said India, he and the Uzbek guy standing next to him entered a level of excitement. The first words that came from their mouth were…”AMITABH BACHCHAN”. Kewl…so here we had a personality more widely known than the President of US. “Shahrukh Khan, Hritik Roshan, Salman Khan” were the next few things about India that they knew. And then he said, “the father of Indian cinema Raj Kapoor” and started singing, “Awaara hoon, Awaara hoon..”. His knowledge of India amused me. Interestingly, a little while earlier, one of the Ethiopian gals was singing “Kuch Kuch Hota hai…”. I never had an idea that Indian cinema was so popular across the globe. Infact, she even looked at my hair in the most fascinating and amusing way. She later offered me a deal in which she would take my hair and in exchange would give me her curly brown hair which I could never imagine on my head. I guess she had never seen such hair back home, where guys are either bald or have really small hair or funny looking curly hair and gals are not much better off. It was funny how people could think of such things at such critical moments.

Another interesting moment was when our own version of Bill Gates was trying to tell her not to talk any longer or all the credit in his phone would run into negative, and she reacted by punching him in the tummy in a manner similar to Laila Ali. My goodness, I would never dare to mess with an African gal in life, they could be dangerous. Two Egyptian guys were asking me to tell them about elephants, as they had never seen one in their life. India had always managed to amuse people in history. Here it was nothing new. People were all over the place and the chaos never died down till fatigue started getting the better of us one-by-one and each was falling prey to it and dozed off in the little place we had in that room. The public phone was also soon switched off and there was pin-drop silence, as would be expected in a court room during the hearings. Our contacts to the outside world were limited as it is, and now we were totally cut-off. This we were unaware of, and only realized it in the morning when we woke up expecting calls from all corners of the world, only to our disappointment.

During these light moments, there were other tense moments when we saw new people coming in and they seemed as upset as we were, when we had entered the SPECIAL ROOM. One gal from some African country even broke down to tears. We all did our little share of trying to cheer her up by talking to her. Some guys would start kicking chairs when they entered the room. I could understand their frustration but preferred to stay away from such people. Each time the door opened, all of us would run to the officer and try to explain our problems. My questions had the same old standard answer, “No speak English.” Damn…could you not get a peson who could speak English!!! I finally found a way out…a translator. The Kazak guy could speak both English (not the best person who could, nevertheless he could in bits and pieces) and Russian (although a different dialect which was spoken in his country back home with basic Russian words). He was my savior; he explained the whole situation to them and me. But it was all in vain as they would not bother to answer any of my questions that night and only said that we would talk again in the morning at 9AM, when the offices in the city opened. Sleep was the best, or rather the only, thing I could do and soon the night passed by, with me hoping for a better day ahead. I was still optimistic thinking to myself that in the worst case, I would have to stay there for 3 days and take the flight back home as per schedule. So I slept with some peace of mind thinking things would be solved in the morning. I had no choice left but to wait till 9AM.

to be continued...

Utterly Butterly Delicious...

What does the title line remind you of???? Try singing it.....!!!!

Remember the ads on TV...Utterly Butterly Delicious...AMUL!!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZRLGukV4A

I stumbled across this video on YouTube. And it struck me...how that tune used to be so famous when I was a kid...And then I started hunting for some of the other ads...whose tunes I remembered. The companies and the products in these ads were remembered because of the tunes that were associated with them...So I decided to compile some of them here...

1) Kya swaad hai...zindagi main...

YES!!!! The delicious Cadbury's chocolate..!!!! From Dairy Milk to Fruit & Nut...Simply Ummmmm...... And who can forget the famous song!!!! Here are a couple of those famous ads...





I specially love the cricket one..!!! I remember how the girl dancing on the field used to really crack me up!!!!


2) I would probably place the following tune right on the top of the list!!!! Every Indian knows this one..!!! The la...la la la laaaa..... the water fall...the pretty girl in a skimpy dress....sighhhhhhh!!! ladies and gentlemen...it's Liril...




3) And the cutest one of them all...the sweet lil kid...who only wants a lil attention...and loads of jalebis!!!!!! Yes...dhara dhara...shudh dhara...(you would have to turn up your volume a lil bit for this one I think...)



4) Suffering from a sore throat??? What did your mom tell you to do??? Vicks ki goli lo...khich khich door karo..!!!! Can never forget this one!!




5) Guess what has swaad (taste) and shakti (strength)!!! think think...



Yes!! Swaad bhare...Shakti bhare..!! Parle G!!!!

6) This company had the most classic tune of all!!! I really love this tune..!!! And they still it in their ads!!!! The bottom add is a new one...with Rani Mukherjee looking absolutely mind blowing..!!!! Times change... but the Titan tune is time less...






I really miss those ads!!!! There were a bunch of others...like coffee bite...ajanta clocks...bajaj...and few others I can't remember...The tunes remind me of a time long gone...Just hearing that music was enough to tell me which advertisement was up on TV... In recent days...the only one I really liked was Rehman's magical tune for Airtel...

Life of S ~ The Russian Roulette ... Vol. II

Continued from here...

I realized the weird atmosphere in the room and turned around to make my way out of there, only to realize that the door had been locked. I was in a small room which could well be considered as the prison in the airport. It seemed as if we were all convicts and had committed an inexcusable crime. The lot included people from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia, and many more countries that I didn’t get to ask or find out. Some of the people had been held here for one week, others for two-three days. I only wondered how long I was going to stay here.

It seemed as if the ‘Third World Summit” was taking place at the Domededovo Airport in Moscow. Initially I was a little upset and worried at the whole situation. But amidst all this chaos, I found that the people here were talking to each other, laughing and trying to motivate each other. None of them knew why they were here, and all of them knew that it was only a matter of time before they would be deported back to their respective countries. I was learning so much about the ways of life and about the positive attitude towards life that they talk about in B-schools. Interestingly, none of these people have ever been to any such school but they knew all about it. I was one among the 4 people who spoke English. The others knew only one sentence in English “No speak English”. Wow!!! Now I had to pass my time with a group of people whom I had no other way of conversing with, other than the primitive way of hand signs. But I was learning how to do it. And at the same time I was learning about the different cultures across the world in a very different way.

It was about an hour before I realized that someone there had a cell phone and was actually charging $5 for one call. Talk about ideas!!!! What a way to make money while sitting in airport-prison. That was really innovative. I felt like punching him in the face, but at the time he was my only savior. Later I realized that neither the phone, nor the sim card in it was his. It was the belonging of a lady and this gentleman was calling his friend sitting outside the airport to fill credit in that number. How innovative!!! He was neither Bill Gates nor Dhirubhai Ambani. But he had the presence of mind to think of doing business even in such a situation. Not to my surprise, there was a waiting queue for making calls and I had to wait for my turn. I needed the phone badly as it was getting late to make calls to India and everyone would soon be sleeping. As I got my turn, he said he didn’t have change for a $20 bill that I had. So I had to get $10 credited considering the situation. Nevertheless, money was not as important to me as getting out of the mess I was in.

Then I called up my friend/Mr Dependable, SP, and explained to him the whole situation. I told him to call whomever was required and to get me out of the bloody mess. I knew he would do something and real quick. I also asked him to get back to me on the same number ASAP and so he did. I still remember, every time the phone rang, every person in the room would run towards it, expecting it to be their call. It was like a lottery being called and every person waiting for their name to be called. Within an hour, things had started escalating to the right people in my company and I had also received a call from Gerardo, the Recruiting Manager for Asia, the same gentleman who had taken my interview and recruited me. Only to my shock, the lady whose phone was being used all this while was upset with everyone using her phone and she finally took it back and switched it off once most of us had fallen asleep. Hungry and tired, I tried to catch up on sleep using my laptop as a pillow and my NorthFace jacket as a blanket, sleeping on the ground. This was nothing very new though for me, as I had already done such things in the pick-up’s when we would go for jobs on the rigs. Nevertherless, the situation was definitely one that was new to all of us.

to be continued...

LIfe of S ~ The Russian Roulette

Ok...so here's the thing. I got really bored of blogging down too much stuff about S (actually, I am pissed of that he hasn't come down to visit me and so I am cutting short his blog coverage). So now I am only gonna focus on some really interesting stuff. And nothing could get better than this. Our dear friend S had to go to Moscow for official work. But as it turned out, his experience was no less than playing the dangerous game of Russian Roulette.

I remember standing in the check-in line at the Dubai International Airport. I was to board a flight to Moscow, where I was being sent for some official work. Little did I know then, that the day ahead of me was going to be one, that would leave memories for a lifetime. A harrowing experience awaited me, one which I would not like to go through again in my life.

As I waited for the flight, I found a place to hook up my laptop and browse the net. I was so absorbed surfing, that I nearly missed the final boarding call for the flight to Moscow (infact, 2 of my friends actually missed a flight once, cause they were too busy facebooking!!!!). I rushed to the gate where I saw an Indian lady welcoming the passengers. She was surprised to know that I was going for work purposes to Moscow. Generally, people as young as me went to Russia to study, and I was an aberration (that word defines S completely). As I entered the flight, the excitement inside me was beyond expression. In my knowledge, the relationship between India and Russia was famous since the times of legendary Raj Kapoor, and so I was really looking forward to this trip. I slept for most of the flight, and when my eyes opened, we were landing at Moscow. The snow outside took me back in memory lane, to the wonderful time I spent in Canada, a few months back.

As I stepped off the plane, the excitement inside me kept growing. All I could think of was Vodka and Women (sounds like the title of of a Russian history text!!), Russia’s biggest "assets" (pun intended). However, as I moved to the passport control with all my documents, I felt the customs inspector giving me the weirdest of looks. In the little English he knew, he asked me to take off my cap (used to hide the receding hairline) and took a closer look at me. He then called another inspector, who was the most inhuman person that I was to see for some time. He took me to a seating area and was trying to be nice by asking me to take a seat and give him reasons for my stay. I was not alone in this exercise, as I found an aged Pakistani businessman and two African gals on adjacent seats. After the questions, he told me to wait.

As time passed by, we kept waiting for him. Finally he was back after 2 hrs. As I explained to him about the company I work for, and my purpose for this short visit, he kept asking me more questions. He then asked me for the contract I had signed with the company, something I never expected to be asked for, in my wildest dreams (and his dreams are pretty wild, believe me). I told him that it was in my check-in baggage, and that I had other documents most of which were in my laptop. If I could open my laptop, I could show him everything he wanted. However, he wanted it all in print. It amazed me that in this hi-tech world of computers, why would one ever carry unnecessary documents and waste paper (score one for Al Gore). He then checked my ticket and hotel bookings and confirmed the same with the hotel I was to stay in. As there was nothing wrong with that, he chose to conveniently ignore it and kept telling me that I should also forget about that. He then wanted the telephone number of the company and contacts of people I was to meet here. So I produced all the required details and told him that there should be a company executive waiting outside for me. But all such details were of least interest to him. I guess it suited him that it was a Sunday and that the offices in Moscow were closed.

He went away to contact the people whose information I had provided, and came back after an hour and a half. He had this sense of achievement on his face and I assumed that he had managed to contact the people and I would be allowed to leave soon. Only to my disappointment, I learned that there was no person he could contact. Also, he said that there was no one waiting for me outside the airport. Of course that was bound to happen. I would never expect someone to wait for me four hours after the flight has landed. I tried explaining this to him, but he couldn’t care less. I was really frustrated. I thought that may be he couldn’t understand me properly and asked if I could speak to his senior officer. That must have hurt his ego and could well be my biggest blunder of the day. As they say, “when time doesn’t go your way, nothing seems to go well”. It was all getting really messed up.

He then asked me to follow him. The wicked smile on his face sent jitters down my spine. He told me that they had a SPECIAL ROOM for me to wait in. The waiting period was indefinite and I would have to wait for the morning when he would contact my company personals. I requested him to let me try calling my company people back in India to see if they could do something or even if I could access the Internet to send emails about the chaos. He had a standard answer to all my requests and questions, “I’m sorry! I can't help you”. I told him that we never treat anyone like this if they come to India. To this statement he replied, “India doesn’t have problems like Russia” (umm...excuse me....have u been to India????). It just seemed as if he never wanted to help me. In any case, we reached the waiting room and he opened the door with a set of keys hanging around his neck. It seemed weird that a waiting room was kept locked. But I kept my questions to myself for a change (u see...nothing's impossible...even S can keep his mouth shut).

As I entered this room, I saw smoke all over, and through the smoke I saw about 20-25 people of different nationalities talking to each other. As I was entering, all their eyes were on me and I’m sure the thoughts passing through their heads was the same, “HERE COMES ANOTHER ONE”.

to be continued...

Life of S ~ Vol. II

Pichle episode main aapne dekha, ki kis prakar IITR se graduate hone ke baad, S ki job CTS main lagi. Is news se woh bahut khush tha. Company join karne ke ek din pehle, woh Gurgaon ke company guest house pahunch gaye tha, aur apne pehle din ka besabri se intezaar kar raha tha. Ab dekhye aage...

Sharp at 9 AM, we showed up at the office expecting a warm welcome. But all we got was disappointment. The only person there to greet us was an office receptionist. While waiting for some one to take charge of us, we saw several current employees moving about their jobs. We looked at them with awe and respect, aspiring to be one of them in a couple of years. A few others joined the Three Stooges (NIT Jam, NIT shed and NIT pur, in case you forgot) and S. They introduced themselves as Barood, Ramesh , Ankur (all three from DCE and natives of Delhi) and so on. S was least bothered about the pleasantries, only wondering if there weren't any gals joining with them. A few minutes later they came in one by one (ofcourse...girls have to be late!!!). Finally, S lost interest in all the new comers, and decided to wait for his friend Bodho.

Bodho was S’s class mate from college days and was a good friend. He was one of the most intelligent people S had met (do keep in mind S's own intelligence level with which he compares others IQ) and was amongst the most laid back and care-free people that lived on this planet. There was a lot more to Bodho, but that was a whole chapter or rather a book in itself.

As time passed, we waited for someone to come forward to greet us, while S also waited anxiously for Bodho, who hadn't turned up yet. Finally, an hour later, Shefali, a HR personnel, came in and took a role count, as if we were still in 1st grade. Then she led us downstairs into the basement conference room. There she first handed out a bouquet of flowers and a huge book about the company, the benefits they provide you with and the policies, to each and every one of us. Then she asked each one of us to introduce ourselves and say a few lines about our background and college. Finally, our induction had begun and we felt welcome and part of this "GREAT" Organization.

About 45 minutes through this procedure, a peon opens the door and asks another new comer to enter the room – there he was...Bodho. S should have expected this from him right from the beginning. S though to himself about a class way back in 2nd year when Bodho tried entering one of the classes 15 minutes before it was about to end (a lil too late even by Bodho's standards). To his misfortune, he got caught by the professor and he had to repeat that course because of that. (Ofcourse, this was nothing compared to the time when Bodho got caught by a professor not while entering a class late, but leaving a class early from the back door. He managed to step out while the professor was turned towards the black board. But unfortunately for him, another professor was passing by in the corridor, who caught him in the act.) But that never changed Bodho. Even today, when he was about to start a new life, he had the same old attitude.

After the introductions, Shefali called for a short tea break. During the break, about half the people, mostly guys, walked outside for a smoke. Not that we are trying to promote or support smoking, but smoking is said to be a very good way of socializing. S was no way going to stay out of this group. They discussed different things like where in Delhi did they come from, how they planned to commute daily and so on. Fifteen minutes later they walked back into the building basement to find the rest of the group playing Ping Pong in the basement. S finally got a chance to speak to his pal Bodho. Bodho was as usual full of words which made no sense, but had humor in them.

A few moments later, one of the new comers came running in and said, “What are you guys doing here? Shefali is pissed off with all of us! On the first day itself, we all are missing from our seats. She gave us 10 minutes and already half an hour has passed. Come fast.” We rushed through the cafeteria and the Ping Pong room and finally reached the conference room only to see a frustrated Shefali barely smiling at us. Apologetically, we entered the room (Shefali: a bell should have been ringing in you head right about now!!!). The rest of the day passed by with senior managers visiting us and sharing their "Beautiful Experience" at CTS and trying to make the new kids on the block more comfortable. They told us that the kind of work coming in the near future is going to change our lives for ever (the only problem being whether the change was going to be for the better or not!!!).

Later that evening, a person from a bank came in and got us all to open new salary accounts. For most of us guys it was our first job, and having a new salary account was real thrilling. Each of us were also given lunch coupons worth Rs 15/- each. Not that it was a lot, but the gesture was what really impressed us people. We were having a blast. Good food, a 2 week stay in the guest house, great work environment, everything a new comer could ask for. We went back that evening feeling we had accomplished a lot in life. S and his three new hommies (at the guest house) headed back together while the others moved on their own way.

The next three days passed by in similar fashion and we were all really enjoying ourselves. The fifth day was the start of training. We had a full fledged six week schedule of training on the new cutting edge technology we were going to work on. The Delhi boys had formed a small group amongst themselves. As usual, they thought of themselves superior to the others. There were about 4-5 people with work experience who formed their own small group. S was very fortunate in all this. Every day there was one or the other girl sitting next to him. Not that he tried to make this happen, but the situation was such and it ended up that way (as you will see..things usually "happen" around S). Some of the people thought otherwise. They felt S was such an ass, intentionally sitting next to a girl each day and hitting on her. It was only S and the girls who knew that this was not the case. The training went on and Bodho and S turned out to be among the brightest people in the batch (do I even need to say any thing about the batch now).

Later, realizing that S is an intelligent guy, the boys from Delhi (Barood, Ramesh and Ankur) decided to get friendly with him (now we know where every one stood in the IQ chain). S also had a house in Delhi, where his grandparents stayed with his uncle and two cousins. And fortunately for him, this place turned out to be close to that of Barood. He decided to take a lift from Barood over the weekend when he went to meet his family. During this ride, they got friendly, smoking and drinking beer on their way back (yeh kingfisher ki dosti hai..tutegi nahi....). This was the beginning of a new friendship that was going to go a long way.

the home coming...or going rather...

:-) :-) :-)

Why am I all smiles you ask?? And I shall definitely tell you. Am going home.
What's so great about home, you ask. Aaha. You see, I am going to my home in India.

For those of us...who carry two homes in their hearts...the non-residents...the non-reliables...the F-1's...the H-1's...the ones that are constantly berated for having left their their motherlands...but whose achievements are synonymous with the achievements of India...for those people...the greatest journeys are the ones...that lead us to home...



So what if I am flying China airlines..and not spending the dollars on Air India. Dollars messed up now days any ways. BTW, when I told my dad, that I was flying China Airlines, I had to repeat it three times. My mom was sure that I wouldn't even reach home. The hijacking in China did not help matters either. I hope the Tibetians haven't been taking lessons from LeT or some one!!!!!

Anyways, I will surely let you know about my experience in China Airlines. I am certainly looking forward to it.

I always imagined going back to India as a rather special occasion. For me it happens once in 1 or 2 years. For others, it is as rare as a solar eclipse. Going back to Delhi from Roorkee (a 4 hour ride in Shatabdi) every weekend didn't really have the same effect. For my current trip, my thoughts are well captured by this song...specially since it's saawan ka mahina in India right now..!!!!



Now, I don't literally want some thing like that. Like what happened to my uncle while coming to US. He came here in the 70s, the first person from his family to do so. He says he counted 86 people, who had come to see him off at the airport. Complete with the dhols and nagadas...LOL!!! But ya, it feels nice to imagine.

Do I really miss India?? I always wonder if we ever really miss a place. For example, people asked me if I would miss college after graduation. Frankly speaking, I don't think I do. Because for me...a place is associated with the people I met there and spent time with. If my parents were here..if my friends were here...then the same memories..the same magic gets re-created here. May be for me...not for every one I am sure.

As I sit here...planning for my current trip...I am going through some of the memories from my previous trip....







I think Javed Akhtar (if I am not mistaken) sums it up pretty nicely...

yeh jo des hai tera...swades hai tera...tujhe hai pukara...
yeh woh bandhan hai..jo kabhi toot nahi sakta...




P.S. ~ as nostalgic as I am...I will be back in 3 weeks...I am not doing a Mohan Bhargav here...though meeting a Gayatri Joshi wouldn't be all that bad..!!! he he..!!!

Life of S

My next few blogs are going to part of an informal autobiography written by my very dear friend S. He has had his share of excitement, adventures and mishaps in life, and his experiences are definitely worth sharing with the world. Most of what follows are his words, with few changes done by me and a few comments (usually in braces) along the way. So here goes.....


With the sunrise of the new millennium, India was looking forward to a new industry to take her to the next level. From a Developing to a Developed country. The service industry was an integral part of the new India. The BPOs, call centers and software industry were leading the way with the new generation of youngsters in India. S (the main protagonist of our story) was a part of this generation next.

Graduating from IITR in CSE, he had job offered to him in his final year. The company, CTS Pvt India Ltd, was the sister company of a major software services company based in the US. To him, it was the one of the best software companies in the world that existed (cause it was the only job he landed). Although the company had offered a job to 16 people on the campus, only 5 of them were willing to join (which tells you a lot about the company). They all had better offers as far as pay was concerned. But to S, this still seemed like a dream come true. After all, he was graduating out of college with a mere 6 point on a scale of 10 (hoping that he would be asked to write a sequel to five point someone: six point someone ~ a new hope).

S was asked to join ASAP. Apparently, the company had a newly signed contract with Moon Microsystems, a pioneer in the field of Software Development and the inventor of Coffee (one of the most "popular" "programming" languages in the world today). He was thrilled at the new offer and at the same time a bit nervous because of the short notice they had given him. He had so many questions in his mind: What kind of clothes can he wear? What kind of shoes to buy for the work place? How often will he get vacation? What are the other perks the company offers besides the pay? And so on…. The list was never ending (notice that he wasn't worried about the actual job part despite his six point programming skills). Each day and night, as these questions troubled him, he would call up a senior in the same company and bug him. The senior soon got pissed off and start avoiding S. However, S being the fighter that he was, would find a new senior everyday to bother. Although he had no other offer, he still would quiz the senior and pretend that if things don’t suit him, he would not join.

As the days passed by, he prepared himself mentally for the challenge ahead of him. Finally, as the penultimate day arrived he moved from his uncle’s house in Delhi to the Gurgaon guest house of the company. There, he saw this short nerdy guy (oily hair..big specs...the works...u get the picture...I heard they are launching a whole new fashion line aimed at this segment). He was wearing the CTS T-shirt. “One of those Ghissoo category guys” was the first thing that came to S's mind. Some one to maintain distance from. But throwing caution to the wind, S introduced himself. The nerdo guy replied, “Am Bhojpuri Pandey from NIT Jamshedpur.” Well, well, well, S was left with no words in his mouth (which must have been a sight to behold) as he tried to put together the two pieces of the puzzle: “Bhojpuri Pandey” and “chashmish geek.” Somehow, he just couldn't figure out how the two went together (S's mind == black hole...nothing comes out of it). While he was still thinking this (you can actually see the thought process...it's that slow), Bhojpuri took him to the adjacent room where his two other Bhojpuri friends were staying. “Hey, do u smoke?” the first one asked S and before S could respond, the second one offered him a sutta (talk about ways to start a conversation). S forgot about the mystery of “the geek and Bhojpuri” as he accepted the offer and picked up the match box on the side table (ladies and gentlemen...finally the secrest has been revealed...the way to S's heart...a sutta...)

“Punjak Singh!! From NIT Jamshedpur” the first guy said. The second guy followed by saying “Nobeljeet Yadav!! from NIT Jamshedpur!!” S so badly wanted to ask if their middle name as “NIT Jamshedpur” or some thing. However, he thought that this is the first test of corporate life….watch what you say…it can be used against you (elementary..my dear Watson..if it isn't ..then S couldn't have come up with it).

As they sat together smoking, they discussed their aspirations and expectations from CTS. They planned to wake up early in order to make it to the 9 AM reporting time. While the rest slept well, S kept tossing and turning due to anxiety. Finally the morning dawned, and they all got ready and had breakfast.

More to follow soon...

An Open Letter From Mario To Nintendo

Reproduced from http://seamanticks.com/index.php/an-open-letter-from-mario-to-nintendo/99/#more-99 , by Greg Lockwood


This is sooo hilarious!!!!! Treat for Mario fans!!!!!

Dear Nintendo,

We’ve been in a business relationship for quite a while now, and to be honest, I never used to have any complaints about my job. I mean sure, my line of work has never really been considered “easy” by any means, but in the early days it just felt so much more… rewarding.


Do you get what I’m saying guys? I wasn’t too fond of chasing a huge ape up a series of ladders, but with that fine-ass Pauline waiting for me, I didn’t mind. Same thing with running around Mushroom Kingdom, I don’t mind taking out a few Koopas since I know Peach is going to be waiting for me. (”At another castle”…God that joke gets so old)

But recently, you have been forcing me to do shit that just isn’t in my job description. I remember the first time Shigeru called me up. “Yo Mario, wanna go to a party? How about 8 of them?” And of course I said yes. That’s because my idea of a party is knockin back a few cold ones with some buds, some drinking games with the ladies, and maybe Superbad. But no, you twisted fucks’ idea of a party is to have me and all the assh**** I hate run around in circles for twenty minutes. That’s not a party, that’s a track and field meet. Which brings me to my next point.

Have you seen my waistline in the last few years? I would assume not, because you’ve got me playing more sports than Michael Jordan. What on God’s green Earth gives you the slightest thought that I would make a good soccer player? Have you seen how long a fucking soccer field is? It’s ridiculous. While we’re talking about ridiculous things, whose bright idea was it for me to compete in Olympic events against Sonic of all people? He was about to retire anyways, but no Nintendo, you just had to bring him back and have him compete against me in track events. What were you thinking? He runs so fast you can’t see his fucking feet.

Finally, as I’m sure you’re all well aware, for most of my life, the enemies I have faced have all been relatively tame, being dispatched with a simple jump or three at the most. Now you want to take me and make me battle to the death against a man with a gun? I can punch him, he can shoot fucking bullets at me! You’re all assh****, I hate you.

Die in a Fire,

Mario

It's all in the Jeans (yes, jeans...not genes..NERDO!!!)

There are things that are dear to you. There are people you look up to.
But above all, there are things that are Sacred.

For some it is Marlon Brando, smoking a cigar in The Godfather. For others, it is the LOTR trilogy by Tolkien. Yet more swear by the light sabers in Star Wars. I personally know people who revere things varying from Nokia cell phones to Bob Marley to the pani puri sold at their local chaat walah.

Mind you, these people are just not mere fans. They revere, respect and hold in awe, the Sacred. But unlike the fans, they will not go up in arms on hearing some one speak against the Sacred. They will never try to convince others of the greatness or the holiness of the Sacred. No sir. For them, it is a religion, an inspiration, a source of hope. The possibility of the world existing without the Sacred, is not a possibility. And if others fail to realize that, then May the Sacred lead them away from ignorance, to the path of light.

For me, and am sure for many others out there, a pair of denim jeans definitely figures in the List of Top 5 Sacred things. Imagine a world without jeans!!!! Definitely sounds like the plot of a Stephen Kings's novel!!!!

And if it is a jeans, it has to be Levi Strauss & Co.



Gulli ki majnu se Deepika Padukone tak, agar jeans pehni hogi, to Levi's jeans hi hogi. (For the uninformed, that was a throwback to the old SAIL steel add in India: safety pin se satellite tak, agar steel se bana hai, to SAIL steel hi hoga. Can't find the damn add!!!!).

Go here if you want a little history lesson on Levi's!!! And here's one of the oldest add's I could find!!!



So, why Levi's?? Cause every thing else, is just a xerox!! :-)




Also, a Levi's jeans is much more than just a jeans. How else do you think Brad Pitt gets all the babes!!!



And the reason for Pamela Anderson being so hot?? You got it!! Levi's jeans!!



Vaise, our desi stars are not far behind in realizing the hotness quotient of a Levi's low rise!!!



He he..now you know why Mohabbat Man goes Udiii Babaaa!!!!

And it's just not the looks... You get the laughs too!!!!



So there you go. One of my Sacred things. Levi's originals. 501..527..Signature...Can't live without it!!!! What's yours???


P.S. ..remember their campaign in India which made them (in)famous!!!!



Don't worry ladies...u can drool too!!!! lol!!!



Levi's - Dangerously Low...

Ballot Bowl 08

It's election season in USA. Ballot Bowl 08 is what CNN calls it!!! Bah!! humbug!! I don't know which brainy mind came up with that name. I hope it wasn't Anderson Cooper. I really like him. But to use a play on the words Super Bowl to describe the elections was the worst idea ever. I mean, how can you compare elections with Super Bowl??? You think you can have pizza and beer while watching the President's Sate of the Union speech???? Gimme a break!!! Not even if Jenna Bush does a Janet Jackson during half time. Dubya man droning for an hour about what he's gonna do in the year to come, though moderately funny (with all the Bushisms), is still not my cup of tea ( or can of beer). In fact, I think this time I noticed him whispering some thing under his breath after every line. After doing some lip reading I realized what was going on.

Bush: "Our troops in Iraq have brought stability in the region (whisper: NOT!!!). Our troops will start coming back as there is progress in Iraq (NOT!!). We attacked Iraq because it had nuclear arms and not for the oil (NOT!!) . I don't listen to 'Piya tu ab to aa ja' every night, while dreaming about Monica Lewinsky (NOT!!)."

Yeah. Since he can't lie standing there, he whispers his NOT after every sentence. He usually turns away from the camera and pretends to look at Nancy Pelosi while saying NOT (well, Dick Cheney was also sitting next to Nancy, so I wasn't really sure whom he was looking at). He thinks no one has seen the Borat movie, except him and the villians in Air Force One. Just because Borat gets to Pamela Anderson (sighhhh!!!), they thought they can get to Harrison Ford. Ya right. Indiana Jones is only scared of snakes. Not gun-weilding Kazhaki terrorists. Give him his rope and hat, and he could take on the Penguin, Joker and Riddler at the same time. Even batman needs three movies to do that!!!

So coming back to the Ballot Bowl, all the attention seems to be on the Democrats this year. Obama and Clinton are like Packers and Cowboys. Neck to neck all the way to the end. But to what purpose. Both got kicked out. Cause the year belonged to the Pats, a.k.a John McCain. Yes. The senator from Arizona (which incidentally hosted the Super Bowl this yr!!).

Does any one think that a black man can defeat a white man in the elections? Or a woman defeat a man? I don't think so. The Democrats will be a victim of their own ignorance. America is not ready for this. They give too much credit to the citizens of America, when all they want is to get fat in peace and blow away their money in Vegas. It may happen one day. But not this year. Not in these elections. This is not the time for change.

P.S. Don't forget that the Giants took the cake eventually. Will Huckabee be the surpise upset? Do white conservatives still hold the power in this country? To which side will they sway? Wait and watch.

A different view of SF

SF!!! Every one's favorite city!!!!! How can it not be!!!! Beautiful weather...beautiful people...the sights...the food...sighhhh...

So, I guess every one has driven down the Bay bridge or the San Mateo bridge to SF. But not every one has probably taken the ferry to SF. Yes, a ferry. And believe me, it's FUN!!!!

This is where it all starts. The Vallejo - SF Bay Link ferry. Starts of from the city of Vallejo, and drops you off at Pier 1, SF. A fun-filled hour long ride. Just make sure the weather's nice!!!!


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I took the trip on a fine sunny Sunday, with A, P and M. We drove from Davis to Vallejo and reached there around 11ish. The next ferry was leaving in half an hour, which suited us well (actually, I had planned it that way). So we bought our tickets (btw, you can get a AAA discount there) and waited to board the ferry (seen below).



Well, so fast forwading about forty-five mins, we boarded the ferry and discovered that they also have aa standing area on the deck. This was a bonus!!! The weather was superb and we decided to spend the ride on the deck itself.

The ferry took off pretty slow. Pretty much like my grandad's premier padmini (good old fiat, for the uninformed). But this was only because we were in the narrow channel and the captain was only waiting to get out in the open. Once we were in in the proper bay, all the pistons kicked in, and we could have taken on Schumacher himself!!!! Boy, it was hard to believe that the ferry had could pack in so much power. we found this particular spot on the deck where the wind force was aprticularly strong, and it caused people to make funny faces!!!! Ofcourse, we took pictures!!!! lol!!!





He he!!! It was fun standing at that spot!!! The only problem was it left a bitter after taste of salty water!!!

The ferry ride turned out to be immensely fun!! The bay was full of people on sail boats (made me wanna get one for myself!!). We even got a beautiful view of the infamous Alcatraz prison (from the movie The Rock!!). And even better, in the back ground we caught the majestic Golden Gate bridge!!!! All this for the price of a ferry ride!!!!!







Finally, after about an hour and loads of fun behind us, we reached the Pier 1 in SF, where the ferry docks. As we entered the pier area, we had a great veiw of the Port of SF on one side, and the Bay bridge and Treasure Island on the other.





So, finally we were at Pier 1, SF. From here, we decided to take a nice walk to Pier 39, along the Embarcadero. The walk was a little over a mile, and is the best way to enjoy the beautiful city of SF!!!


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We finally reached our detination of Pier 39, and roamed around the Fisherman's warf area. There were so many small shops, which totally reminded me of Delhi markets!!! We even found a nice bengali uncle at a clothes shop, and had a little chat with him!!!







Pier 39 is a very lively area, with lots of shops, live music, rides and sone of the best eating places. it also provides an awesome close up view of Alcatraz and Golden gate bridge!!!




From here, we moved on to the famous (and absolutely delicious) Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. A visit to SF is not complete without sampling the fine chocolate from this place. And a visit to this place is not complete without eating their famous banana split!!!!


Later, we took a tram ride from Ghirardelli to the municipal square and roamed around in the malls, which are found in abundance in that area (it's like they keep reproducing. Macy's for Men. Macy's for Women. And BOOM!!! Macy's for children).

After recovering from the PJ, we walked around a bit and found an Indian restaurant (I think it was called Nan 'n Curry and was open 24 hrs). And ofcourse, all of us were hungry!!! The food was pretty ok. After the meal, we took a cab back to pier 1, and had crappy black coffee from a mexican place (no reflection what so ever on a mexican's coffee-making abilities), just to keep us warm while we waited for the ferry.





So that was pretty much it. The ride back was also very beautiful. The lights of SF fading away in to the darkness were simply brilliant. There was a full moon out, glowing bright orange, like the feeling of happiness and satisfaction inside us. All in all, it was a wonderful experience.

Kayaking trip to Tomales bay

So like I said, this blog will mostly be about my various outings. And I can't think of a better one to start with. On the week end of January 19th and 20th, me and my room mate (Rushi) went on a kayaking trip to Tomales Bay.


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The trip was organized by Outdoor Adventures of UC Davis. I really like these guys. They provide you with all the equipment (kayaks, wet suits, tents, sleeping bags, the works). And for a pretty reasonable rate (the two day trip cost me about 100 bucks!!!). This included two guides who go with you on the trip and manage every thing. Given the labor costs in the US of A, he he...you get the idea.

Preparing for the trip

One day before the trip, me and Rushi made a list of things we would need for the trip. The trip involved camping too, so we had to be ready for that. 12 o' clock in the night we drove to our friendly neighborhood safeway and filled our trolley with snack bars, instant coffee mix (since we were told hot water would be available), bread rolls, cheese for making sandwiches, and above all, the most important thing, GATORADE!!!! (believe me, its the best!!!). Some of the other things recommended by the trip guide were a torch light, gloves for kayaking, sun screen (lots of it) and sun glasses.

Getting there

The whole group (eight people including the 2 guides) met the the OA office at 6:30 AM in the morning. We loaded the kayaks onto a trailer and all the gear in the back of a van. The rest of the group consisted of a couple (a law student who supported Ron Paul and his girl friend from Irvine, and two more girls, one of which was from Israel and had served in the army there for 2 yrs). So moving on, we headed out towards Tomales bay, with me sleeping in the back seat, and Rushi getting to know the two girls better ;-).

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Once we arrived there, we unloaded all the stuff and started getting our kayaks ready. The kayaks have these small compartments built in in which you can stuff the required things. Our guides had brought these water-proof bags for us in which we stuffed our clothes, food etc. These bags went into the compartments, along with the tents and sleeping bags. There's a surprising amount of space in the kayaks!!!!! Though you need to remember not to make either the front compartment heavier than the back, or vice-versa. We were also equipped with sponges and a water-pump, to bail out any water that might get into the kayak (in case the kayak rolled over!!!! UH-OH!!!). Bottles of water (or gatorade in my case) were fitted under the strings on the kayak. These strings serve as excellent anchors for water-bottles, water-proof cameras (stroke of brilliance!!!!!) and even our sleeping pad!!!



We were also given wet suits, life jackets and some thing called a "frock". The frock fits into the seating space of the kayak and prevents water from getting into the kayak. I can be seen here, all dressed up, with my kayak ready to go!!!!! After this, our guide took us through a brief OA 101 "Introduction to Kayaking" course. We were taught how to paddle and how to turn the kayak left and right (the kayaks have rudders, but in calm waters its as easy with the paddles). Then after a brief round of stretching and getting our muscles warmed up, we were all set to go!!!

Take Off!!!



So we pushed off our kayaks into the water and started paddling. The guides kept us close to the coast initially and made us practice the strokes that we had learnt. It also helped the first-timers (like me!!!) to get a feel of the kayak and get used to the slight rocking motion (and the fact that you practically feel like you are sitting on the water surface!!!!). Once done with that, we headed out into the bay. The map below has the route we took.

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The first point of interest we came to was Hog Island. We met a whole bunch of sea lions and harbor seals. Though we had to be careful to maintain distance from them, and let them approach us. We then moved on across the bay and started hunting for a beach to camp for the night. Our guide John finally found a nice secluded spot, big enough for putting up tents for our group. It felt nice to get out of the wet suit and stretch my legs!!!! We unloaded our kayaks and had some lunch. After this, the guides asked the interested candidates if they wanted to go through some "Rescue Steps". This basically involves teaching you how to rescue other people if they roll over. I took a rain check, but Rushi and the 2 girls went ahead (as the Israeli girl put, "I wanna get my 100 bucks worth!!!"). So the rest of us just drifted around, while Rushi played the "knight in wet kayak" and rescued the damsel in distress!!!! After this we went back to our beach and pulled up the kayaks, so that they don't drift away at high tide (the guides had a whole time table of high and low tides, and it's some thing very important to consider on trips like these). We put up ur tents, changed into dry clothes, and started a bon-fire. John and Greg (our guides) had brought the dinner, which they cooked for us. So we had dinner, played some games, listened to songs on Rushi's Nokia N 91 and warmed our selves in front of the fire. Every body gave was pretty tired by 10 PM, after the exciting day. So we decided to call it a day. Plus we had more action to look forward to the next day. The next day we all got up pretty early. After having breakfast, we slowly packed and waited for the tide to ebb out. John explained a whole lotta stuff about water currents and tide movements, none of which I remember now!!! So me and Rushi decided to utilize the time taking some pictures. And we got some pretty nice ones.







Finally, we loaded back all our stuff (considerably lighter with most of the food gone!!!) and started off again. We first moved on to a part of the coast called the White Gulch. It gets it name from the wall of white rocks on the mountain side.





At this point, the wind started picking up. John informed us that it was supposed to get very windy later in the day, but seemed like the wind gods were jealous of all the fun we were having. So we decided to head back from where we had started, a little earlier than planned. Barring some trouble that the first-time kayakers had, going against the strong wind and every thing, and making sure not to hit the rocks or drift too much, we managed to reach the shore. Here's Rushi doing his victory hurray!!!



So that was it!! We were back!!! Loaded back every thing into the vans. Made our way back to Davis. Helped out John and Greg to clean out the kayaks and other stuff. And finally, came to our home sweet home. A hot water bath to get rid of all the salt in my hair, and to soothe my aching shoulders, was all I needed before succumbing to a deep sleep. So that was my kayaking trip!!! If you decide to go, you are welcome to contact me for any information!!!! Here's a little video I took there, to close this post!!