North East diaries - Geared up to ride to Shillong on Day 3

| Day 1 | Day 2(morning) | Day 2(the rest) | Day 3...

Nov 5th 2014, Kaziranga, Shillong

I had traveled to Kaziranga like a king, alone by taxi. It had cost me a whopping 3700Rs. Not the amount of money that I had planned on spending, when I was traveling alone with a rucksack and a backpack. I had planned on heading to Shillong, since I did not have enough time to get to Arunachal. A taxi from Kaziranga to Shillong would have cost me about 7000Rs.

I had to make amends, and thus decided that I would try and take a cheaper form of transport to Shillong.

Now, on the way back towards Guwahati, the road forks at a place called Jorabat. One to head straight into the city (which is a few kilometers away) and the left turn takes you to Shillong.

Here is a hand-drawn map by yours truly to help depict, the general geography.

On the previous day, that is the day of the jeep safari, I had gone to a souvenir store near the park gates, that sold bus tickets and reserved a seat for myself on the earliest bus that went towards Shillong.
They got me a reservation from a place called Jorahat, which is where the bus started from. I was to get onto the bus at Kaziranga at 7:30am sharp.

This bus would take me to Jorabat, from where I was told I could get a shared taxi to Shillong.

Having learned not to underestimate the punctuality in Assam, I was at the bus stand at 7:15am. The drop off to the busstand from the resort cost be 200rs. which was expensive when compared to the bus ticket that had cost me 350Rs only!

The bus arrived at 7:25am and we were already on our way by 7:30. It was a superb ride. The weather was cool and pleasant, and the bus was quick. It got me to Jorabat as promised at 11am.

A short walk from where the bus dropped me, took me to the junction which lead to Shillong and there were a lot of Tata Sumo's waiting here. I got into one of them. They charged me 150Rs to take me to Shillong! Super cheap!

Then I realised, why it was this cheap. These folks regularly shuttle between Shillong and Guwahati, loading the vehicle to the brim. My taxi had 10 of us including the driver and to top it a couple of kids! The luggage went on top.

I got an interesting place to sit. I was straddling the gear box, with the gear right in between my legs!

This 92 odd kilometre journey is a climb into Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya and the trip took us about 3.5 hours. Trust me, the 2nd gear is the one I feared the most. The driver would reach out and with a crunch shift to 2nd. Eventually, I took up the pose that the footballers take, when they are defending against the free kick. I think I should have offered to change gears, rather than risk him doing the shifting. Maybe next time if I ever put myself in such a precarious position, I may do just that.
Not the most comfortable position to be in, but the journey was not too bad. We stopped once since the engine had overheated, due to the climb and once for lunch.

While a part of the road is well maintained, there is currently work underway to construct a 4 lane expressway between Shillong and Jorabat. So there are parts of the journey that are super bumpy and dusty.

There is a truck right in front of us that you cannot see, thanks to the dust

The large Umiam lake, as one gets closer to Shillong.

Once we got into Shillong (it had cost me just 500Rs.), I realised that Shillong is not the quaint little hill station I had imagined it to be. It was jam packed with traffic, from entering the city, to the Civil hospital, where I was supposed to get dropped off, took us about 30minutes.

I had spoken to one Ms.Sharlene who owned a place called the Aerodene cottage in Shillong about getting a place to stay, so I had to head there. Initially I had planned to take a local taxi to take me to the cottage. But having looked at the traffic, I decided to walk it. It was about 1.5 kms from where I had been dropped off, and the walk to the cottage, with the help of google maps and directions given over sms by Sharlene, helped me find the place easily and quicker than if I had taken a cab.

When I turned the narrow lane, that took me to the cottage I was refreshed again!

The place was beautiful, full of flowers and away from the hustle bustle of the main road, despite being close to the main road.

Aerodene cottage

The rooms

The walk had also helped, after a cramped ride to Shillong. I checked-in, had a quick shower and headed out to check out some place to have some coffee.

Having looked at  the traffic, I had decided to see shillong by walk. I love walking and I think the best place to explore any city is by walking.
I headed to Cafe Shillong, a nice coffee place on Laitumkhrah main road. This place was about 1.5 kms from the cottage. I snacked on chicken hot dog and washed it down with cups of Hot Chocolate.

Laitumkhrah road, had a lot of eating joints and also is home to "Caramel", apparently a very good pastry shop. I made a mental note to come back and get some pastries from here as had been recommended by a friend from Shillong. But I never got around to doing that. Maybe next time.

Shillong was cold and lovely to walk in. I got back in time for dinner at the cottage. Good food.

While I had no exact plans about what to do in Shillong, I knew I wanted to see the root bridges, which required a trek from a village near Cherrapunji. So that is what I planned for day 4.

To the root bridges!

How to spend the perfect weekend in wintry Delhi

So Delhi's getting a lot of bad press at the moment. As a city, Delhi is lovely. Seeped in culture and filled with a lots of places to see and things to do.  Gurgaon is a toxic wasteland though, stay as far from it as possible.

Anyway, If you are in Delhi and wondering what to do over the weekend, then here is what my favourite winter weekend in Delhi looks like...

Friday Evening
Head to Khan Market and straight to Route04, there are many nice pubs to hang out at Khan Market, but Route04 is my favourite because of the music if nothing else.

Saturday
You've most probably had a late Friday night. Wake up late. Start late.

12:30pm: Reach 'Hauz Khas Village', and head to 'Yeti', A lovely restaurant that serves awesome Tibetian food. Get a couple of beers, order some of the great starters that they serve. Finish with a Thaali. The food is good, the place is excellent and I have managed to laze around eating food for 3-4 hours easily.

3pm:  Head to the Hauz Khas complex which is right next to 'Yeti', a beautiful place to be in, on Winter afternoons. Take a book or take walk by the lake, see the sun set over the tree tops of the Haus Khas complex. If you have time and the inclination, you can go around the many shops in Hauz Khas village. My favourite ones are those that sell Hindi and English classic movie posters.

6pm: You could choose to unwind at the many lounge bars that Hauz Khas village has to offer. 'The Living Room' is one such nice place, especially if you get the terrace.

Sunday
10:00am - Sunshine brunch at 'American Diner' in Indian Habitat Centre off Lodhi Road, is the best place to spend a lazy Sunday morning with a great buffet breakfast spread. Top it off with the lovely Chocolate Milkshake and most of your Sunday should be done.
Depending on how much energy you have left for the rest of the day you could do any of the following:
- Go home and spend the evening reading a book
- Catch a movie at the 'Select City Walk' Mall
- Go see a monument. I would highly recommend Tuglaqabadh Fort.
Or if the foodie in you is not yet sated then,
- Head to Karim's near Jama Masjid to tuck into some of the most delicious Mutton Burra and Seekh kabab you can find.

Oh, and don't catch a cold!

Why 'Junior MasterChef' rocks!

I've completely ignored 'Satyameva Jayate', I don't care about the brickbats headed my way, but it seems plainly overrated. Of course with Aamir Khan hosting it - and doing what he is best at doing ("acting" in it) - I am sure it will reach masses and may make a bit of a difference.

The other reality show that I love is 'Dance India Dance - lil champs' that has some great talent on show and wonderful dancing. Siiigh, I wish I could so some "popping and locking" like some of those kids do.

But anyway this post is about the awesomeness that is "Junior MasterChef Australia". 

I am not a foodie (though some of you who've seen me eating fish may beg to differ) and I am not a guy who enjoy's cooking. 

Amongst the few things I do know how to make are - Omelette, Tea, Pulao and chocolate cake. An odd mix, I know :)

So back to MasterChef. It caught my eye because I was quite sure that kids in the range of 9-12 years would have no clue how to cook. I was wrong. They cook up a storm and they've so far dished out some awesome varieties of food!

Of course the kids are super talented, but what sets this show apart from some of the other reality shows is its lesson in positive reinforcement.

Every contest has a point system, the best 3 dishes get awarded points (6,4,3). However the other kids get a point each and the there is point awarded to the kid who is the most improved cook! 

Fantastic! I love the concept and who knows I might just get inspired and start showing some interest in cooking. But don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

The complexity of ordering food

If I come to think of it, ordering food in a restaurant always involves some complex maneuver's. Firstly you need to tackle the group you are with - At times everyone wants to order, shouting out orders and interspersing it with conversations with each other. This always gets me annoyed. Then there are times when no-one wants to order and everyone goes "Anything's okay".
Over that I am always suspicious of the guy taking the order, I am always certain that he's never got it down correctly! So I am restless until the food arrives.
But in all this, the most complex food order has to be ordering for 'Lime Soda'. Unless people on the table have known each other for year's, ordering lime soda is tough.
Here is how the order goes:
Someone - One 'Lime Soda- sweet' please
someone else - one more 'Lime soda - salt' please
me - 'Lime soda -sweet and salt', please
another person - yeah sweet for me too
last person - lime soda
bah!
Ordering lime soda is always messy

Some cricket...

When in school and college, we had all the time in the world to play cricket, the biggest issue used to be -
1. Risk of losing the cricket ball or damaging the bat as we would rarely afford to keep buying a bat or a tennis/cricket ball.
2. Lugging the cricket bat on a crowded bus all the way to the ground and back.

Nowadays, we can buy an entire cricket kit without worrying about cost and the kit sits in the car which forms our modern transport, but, the biggest issue is finding time to play cricket :)

However, today we did manage to find some time. The same gang from school/college gathered together (well, at least 4 of us did) at about 7:30 am, however we realised there was just no place to be found to play cricket. Most grounds were occupied by school kids for Republic Day (which was quite cool).
It took us close to 2 hours to find a place where we could play. This place turned out to be 7 kms away from our planned ground.
For Raj this ground was 40kms away from his home, for Dilip and Naveen it was about 25kms away!

Anyway, we finally did get to play cricket and just like we have been promising each other since school, we said "Guys, we should continue playing cricket and playing it a little more regularly "

While we may not find the time to get together to play cricket as regularly as we used to, its good to see that we are still willing to travel long distances and take a few hardships to play a game of cricket . Just like the old times :D

Road Crossing for dummies

So I have started driving a lot more regularly than I used to, and other than the auto's/two wheelers that try and squeeze into every nook and cranny available on the road, the other feature of Bangalore roads are the people crossing them.

I have managed to identify a few popular techniques of road crossing.

1. The Test match opening batsman


People who follow this technique of road crossing are super cautious and have a "great temperament".
Just like Sunny Gavaskar, who would wait for ages for a bad delivery off which he could score a single, these people will wait for almost ever, before they feel it is safe to scurry across the road.
They are especially irritating when you want to cross the road and they are "the lead" . They never make use of those promising gaps in traffic!

note: "The lead" - in road crossing jargon means to be the one closest to the approaching traffic. Though this person may change frequently, especially if you are standing in the middle of chickpet or K.R.market. The lead is responsible for crossing the road first, the rest just follow cue.

2. The "Kaho na pyar hai" dance step.

Now this a step that has been popular on Indian roads for ages . Much before Hrithik displayed it in the title song of the hit movie Kaho na pyar hai.

The step comprises of 2 movements: one step forward and one step backward, alternate this with flailing arms and you will have mastered this technique.
This is the best technique for people with commitment issues- step into the traffic and suddenly go back onto the pavement, repeat step till you finally want to commit to getting to the other side of the road.
If you are driving, you need to be able to ascertain when the person will come forward and when he/she will go back. You will be able to identify this technique only with experience of driving on Indian roads.

This step is demonstrated by Hrithik in this video watch closely from 1:21 to 1:25 of the video

3. The Matrix

This technique is fast gaining popularity thanks to the incessant flow of traffic. To master this technique - think Neo stopping bullets in the Matrix.



This is the simplest of techniques. Do not look left or right, put out your hand at the approaching traffic and walk across the road. The traffic will stop and give you way.
Note - you will have to have an expression of disdain and 'I don't give a damn' on your face. The traffic will NOT stop if you look like a cornered rabbit.

This can only be executed if you are super confident of the driving abilities of all the other Bangaloreans and have calculated the probabilities of brake failure on an average day.

As with all things 'Matrix', I cannot tell you more about what the technique is. You have to see it for yourself.

4. Flash

This technique is as old as the dinosaurs. Look left and right. If you notice the tiniest of gaps in the flow of traffic, put your head down and run at top speed across the road. Keep eyes closed till you think you have reached the other side.

5. Equated Installments

This just like the EMI concept, this is based on the divide and conquer principle. Don't wait for the traffic flow to dry out. Just cross the road a few feet at a time.
If its a 30 feet wide road, cross 10 feet first, thus making yourself an island as the traffic goes past you. Wait for the remaining traffic to slow down or take pity on you and then cross the remaining section.
This requires good agility as there arise a need to be able to duck out of the way of a speeding motorbike that is overtaking a slow moving bus from the wrong side and trying to occupy the same space of the road that you are standing on (or were standing on a fraction of a second before you ducked out of its way).

6. The parasites

Now this is the recommended technique for beginners and amateurs. Just stand on the pavement looking busy staring at the sky or at something across the road. Wait for an expert to arrive at the scene (This will be the person who will immediately take "the lead"). The expert will use one or more of the above mentioned techniques and you can just tag along.

See you on the other side of the road!

The great Indian MRF blimp

Oh GOD! I had never ever seen a blimp in my life! That too one from MRF...oooh wow.

Ever since I managed to get through kindergarten, I have been tortured by these questions day in and day out - What is this MRF? What do they do? How many brand ambassadors do they have? What is this pace academy they have founded? Who will be the first one to get the blimp to India? Does MRF really stand for Madras Rubber Factory? Why is MRF so great?

Now, thanks to the IPL, all the questions I have ever had about MRF have been answered and many more have been pre-empted.
The commentators are like an endless ocean of knowledge when it comes to factoids about the blimp. They can tell you who owns MRF, how many times that person eats curd rice in a day, what brand of dhoti he wears etc etc

Other than the annoying bits where they show the ongoing match every now and then, the IPL and the MRF blimp is a joy to watch.

The charming Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, seems to love the MRF blimp so much that I suspect that once the IPL gets over, he is going to take the blimp home and introduce it to his parents. Danny Morrison also seems to suddenly get excited when they show the blimp, but then Danny Morrison has the ability to get excited even if they show Mukesh Ambani on screen, so one cannot read much into his display of emotions.

Anyway here is Siva taking his blimp for a walk on a pristine caribbean beach.

I leave you with the very eloquent -

What you gon' do with all that junk?
All that junk inside your trunk?
I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my blimp
My blimp, my blimp, my blimp, my blimp, my blimp,
My blimp, my blimp, my blimp, my lovely little blimp (Check it out)

At the match

If we had any doubts about whether watching a match at the stadium was "Worth it", they were all dispelled the moment we set foot in 'Stand B' of the Chinnaswamy stadium for the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab.

I confess that a few things worked to our benefit, such as:

1. Watching the match with a large gang of friends - after all, who else would let you - and eventually join you - lead a chant that goes "Bangalore, Bangalore, Bangalore" ? :P

2. The team we supported (RCB) thulped the opposition (Kings XI Punjab) - They chased down a massive 203 against all odds.

3. Watching Sreesanth getting walloped - the clown was as entertaining as ever. As the RCB innings began, and the batsman was taking guard, this idiot was behind the batsman taking strike, measuring his run up for the next over. Of course as soon as he got ball in his hands, it flew all around the park.

4. There were a handful of Punjab team supporters, who were jumping about and dancing in that weird Bhangra style that these people dance in, for the entire duration of the Punjab innings, but they disappeared from the stadium after watching the first dozen sixers of the RCB innings.

At this point I must tell you how disappointed I am with the Punjabi dance style that they demonstrated for 105 minutes of the Punjab innings.

When Yuvraj singh pulled out his hanky to blow his nose, they would stand on the chairs and start the weird dance.
When Bisla, hit a mistimed pull that got him a single, they would get onto the chairs and do the same dance.
When someone said "Daler Mehendi", they got up onto the chairs and did the same routine.

Basically every 30 seconds same dance steps, each group of fans, same dance step.

Bah!

Anyway. Match worth every rupee. Go watch.

My top 5 Sitcom characters

1. Barney Stinson - How I met your mother

His awesomeness is unparalleled !

2. Keshav Kulkarni - Shriman Shrimati

Tuesday used to be my favourite day, thanks to this show!

3. Stewie Griffin - Family Guy

Here is Stewie doing the robot dance.

4. Edmund Blackadder - Blackadder

Rowan Atkinson as the devious Blackadder. Hilarious

5. Crayon Shin-chan - Shinchan

Cult classic Japanese anime.

Population

There is too much population I say. Too much!

Yesterday, we had tickets to Avtaar for the 6 pm show, we reached the road where the theatre is located at about 5:55pm, from then on it was one long wait in a queue to get parking.

By the time we got to park the car, it was 6:45 pm! 45 minutes for a distance of about 200 metres. This was , mind you, at fame lido, a multiplex with quite a bit of parking space (but all taken!).

Today, we got up early and went off to play badminton. But when we reached we saw that the two courts were full of people. Each of them (with the exception of the gang from my office), was fat (in a pot-bellied way), sweating and weirdly middle aged.

They were playing quite well mind you, but even I may get to that level of expertise soon, if only they give us some space and time on the court.

We left in frustration, because I did not see the point of having to wait 1 hour to play for 15 minutes that too with some pot bellied dude heaving and panting on the other side of the court.

But my point is, we are bursting at the seams (much like the badminton playing uncles). Too much population.

Project 'Whal-e' :P

One more door to be painted, this time on the inside of the bathroom door

Phase1: Decide how we want the door to look...

It's the bathroom, hence one should have something that goes with the mood, and what better than a whale frolicking in the bathtub ? :P

So, we have penciled in the Whale (Whal-E) and its bath-tub equipped with a bar of soap :)

Phase2: The paint job

Colouring this in should be simpler than the 'peeping girl' drawing on the outside of the door, I mean how multi-coloured can a whale get eh?

So its blue for the whale and white for the bathtub and maybe a bit of pink for the soap

We have started off and here is the first shot (we are letting the paint dry before continuing on)



Watch this space for updates :)

Craaazzzyy

Well, nothing's changed. Well one thing has ! I have got crazier.

Here is some crazy stuff done more recently.

1. Gate crashed a wedding, so that we could all go to the loo. Ended up taking some pictures with the guests :D

2. Fainted at the dentist's clinic, when she told me what exactly she was going to do to my poor tooth.

3. Watched 'Main aur Mrs Khanna'.

Loads of travel coming up!

Here is a list

Last weekend (18th and 19th July) - Pondicherry

This weekend (25th and 26th July) - London

Next weekend (31st July) - Back to Bangalore

Weekend of 8th Aug - Calcutta!

Weekend of 15th August - Definite trip with friends - place not planned

Weekend of 23rd August - Sawantwadi, native place for Ganpati festival :)

Weekend of 30th August - Goa !

Whew!... How does that sound for travel?

Trek - Mulayangiri

Mulayangiri is supposedly the tallest peak between the Western Ghats and the Himalayas, it is also the tallest peak in Karnataka. The trek up to the summit begins at a place called "Sarpadari" that is 15kms away from Chikmagalur (the famous coffee plantation town of Karnataka).

We started off on Friday night around 11ish and reached Chikmagalur at some 5am on Saturday, since it was foggy and dark, we decided to freshen up and start the trek only once the day brightened a bit.

The journey from Chikmagalur to Sarpadari began refreshingly, with all of us sitting on the rooftop of the "Tempo Traveler". We reached the place and started the trek close to 6am on Saturday.

The trek in itself is very easy, there is a simple trail that you follow all the way up to the summit. It takes about 2 hours and you are right at the top!

However the weather was fantastic (at least for me), it was wet, foggy and lovely. We were basically trekking in the clouds.

The temple poojari at the summit provided us with breakfast of steaming hot lemon rice and hot black coffee which was one of the high-points of the trek :P.

And it was cold, brrrr. After a leisurely breakfast we headed down hill. The trek was prettier now and though I tried my best to make things interesting by moving away from the trail. The rest of the gang wanted to stick to the old beaten path (Which I thought was the safer but boring option).

I did have my way eventually though when I convinced 3 others who were with me to take an alternate route to the destination, this alternate route led us to a dead end of sorts with a vertical 14 foot drop to the tarmac :D

We eventually found another way down, that was relatively errr less vertical in nature, the other 3 had their great falls and I was fortunate to make a safe landing *grin*.

We decided not to continue on further, because the majority of us were wet and miserable.
Instead, we headed to Chikmagalur, where we freshened up and spent the night at a wonderful wonderful coffee estate right up in the hills :D.

The next morning (Sunday), we trekked through the coffee estate itself, followed by a few games of cricket at the most wonderful location ever!
By the foot of cloud covered hills, right in the middle of the coffee plantation.

On our way back to Bangalore, we stopped for a bit at the temple at Belur, which I personally think contains the best architecture and carving on the whole planet!

here are some pictures

Mission: Paint the door - Episode 1

Amu and I have decided to paint a door in our room, we mulled on this decision for a couple of weeks and yesterday got down to actually starting off on the project.

Phase1: Decide how we want the door to look...
The door is a long and narrow canvas, hence deciding what to paint on it was a little confusing. Should we draw a giraffe? A trapeze artist? or some colourful blotches and call it art (ala M.F. Hussain), we just could not decide, Hussain seemed to be the easiest way forward. :P

But finally in a moment of epiphany, we decided we wanted to have a door painted on our door with a little girl and her cat peeping from behind it. :D

Phase2: Some initial sketch work...





We started sketching the door at 11pm last night, and surprisingly it came out quite well :)
Got dad (who is a professional artisit), to look at it and he said it was quite nice :D

Yet to come: buying paints and starting the paint job...

Wordling

This is how the keywords on my blog look on WORDLE, go try!

Celebrating New Year's - the monopoly way

Here is wishing all you people a fantastic year ahead! I typically enjoy celebrating new year at home, with the inner circle :)

Not for me the garish, loud and crowded parties/bashes to usher in a new year. This year was no different, the inner circle was home and after quiet dinner and exchanging gifts, we got down to unraveling the mysteries of the Transformer we bought(read previous post... droool). Having figured that out, we decided to try our hands at monopoly, and what a game that turned out to be.

We had planned to play for a couple of hours and call it quits, but once we got hooked, we just went on and on... first time I have played a board game all through the night!

here are the highlights of our game

- Dilip got to go to Jail a record 6 times

- Raj ended up paying rent or picking up chance/community cards that made him have to shell out loads of money either to the bank or the other players eg. " You are celebrating becoming the chairman of an Electric company, pay 50$ to all players" rotfl

- I managed to play a decent game (for once!), and reaped quite a few benefits of most investments I had made

- Amu ended up being the only person to have built a house on one of her properties and eventually won the game when we decided to call it quits at 6:30 am in the morning.

Fantastic way to spend New Year's eve!

Transformer!

Amu and I, gifted ourselves a wonderful wonderful transformer for New Years- Autobot Blades!

This voyager class transformer, has a wonderful colour scheme and a level 3 conversion (from Robot to Helicopter and back).

As you can see from the picture, he looks fantastic in robot mode and better in helicopter mode :D

This is a great buy ! We love it and converting it is a joy !

My favourite word...

Yes, I am sure we have been here before, I love talking about my favourite word!

it's ASSORTED.

Why?
Because, it feels nice to say it! go ahead, give it a try, and it brings up pictures of assorted biscuits, assorted breads and assorted chocolates in my head.

I have even uploaded this as my favourite word on this site, if you have a favourite word, go ahead put it up there.

Diwali

This Diwali was brilliant :D


- A rangoli from home :)