tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66026724084325824342024-02-21T10:00:19.412+05:30Ghumakkar's DiaryMy travel and Bullet ride stories, random thoughts, photography and many other chaotic expressions as a Ghumakkar...Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-75277743454042173012020-07-22T03:10:00.003+05:302020-07-22T03:46:40.713+05:30Home Quarantined Day - the Last 1I am not at all getting in to exactly how many days I stay locked in this room.<span class="st_sharethis_large" displaytext="ShareThis"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSNHSxxdwmtqVLklfZ_MuWTpVdRBSUJ5NR8C3-dXWbrQM5WfC1Vj4AJ1lN1D_7oOQfMoDN4J04UFPxspbLnqqYQ9Qus3-RlrMAxfr5yekcs7a0VMc7h-yyVs5RM9xCcSqhsugvkUvHOqM/s4621/IMG_0579-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4621" data-original-width="3462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSNHSxxdwmtqVLklfZ_MuWTpVdRBSUJ5NR8C3-dXWbrQM5WfC1Vj4AJ1lN1D_7oOQfMoDN4J04UFPxspbLnqqYQ9Qus3-RlrMAxfr5yekcs7a0VMc7h-yyVs5RM9xCcSqhsugvkUvHOqM/s320/IMG_0579-01.jpeg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I did not complete the course, neither Dark Season 3, nor the Book and didn't click a lot. I just kept working, on this or that stuff, cold calling people, and watched a lots of movies and web-series. But not Dark S03 - it's too intense; 3 timelines now intertwined with 2 alternate dimensions! I love all these complexities, absolutely, but the series is too heavy.</div><div><br /></div><div>I couldn't complete the course I intended to - was not at all in mood. One day, however, I did set up the camera and the flash and the stand - but like always camera battery died, and I have been too lazy to recharge. A few random shots like the above one and the one below - I didn't do much.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01chyphenhyphen1tL6QUS0YZk4bxaeXlTb3H-NFs08pECdYqsn-h6U9W6X22Go8KjEo3zY5QdyVgGLbT0YKf0zIPxPC1Ql5aUCoRvrldlKbJ8cScLsVgwN63qtQ6QwrNJd3LbvD_v-Xrwby_SpIvBE/s5387/IMG_0607-01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="5387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg01chyphenhyphen1tL6QUS0YZk4bxaeXlTb3H-NFs08pECdYqsn-h6U9W6X22Go8KjEo3zY5QdyVgGLbT0YKf0zIPxPC1Ql5aUCoRvrldlKbJ8cScLsVgwN63qtQ6QwrNJd3LbvD_v-Xrwby_SpIvBE/s320/IMG_0607-01.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But, I kept keeping track of my body temperature and it never crossed the normal number. So, I am good and finally yesterday when Hospital confirmed that "I can live my life", my wife agreed to put an end to this "no-good for anybody" situation. I am literally tired, knees paining, locked in a room - though regularly doing 30 mins workouts and living life like a King - except everything is served at the door; and, my wife and mother-in-law have been sweating out working as bonded labours. My kid is just the icing over the cake, adding to more work though with intense euphoria.</div><div><br /></div><div>Almost 10 days in the room with all the luxuries of an attached bathroom, laptops, cellphones, tablet and camera and above all good home cooked food - I am just inches away from depression. Now I can understand why people put on institutional quarantine are running away leaving no trace.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyways, I won't be bragging much of 10days "free food no chores" life, and truly looking forward to a regular life tomorrow onward doing some home work and above all changing diapers, cuddling with boy (only if allowed). But, one thing that I would like to mention here is "stay safe", take care of yourself and your loved beings - this is no doubt the new normal, and here to stay - but that doesn't mean you do all your misadventures and put yourself or the near and dear ones in panic and pain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take care, and don't wait - I may or may not write soon again. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0Doha, Qatar25.2854473 51.531039799999988-3.0247865361788442 16.374789799999988 53.595681136178847 86.687289799999988tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-87274568583668769352020-07-15T04:18:00.001+05:302020-07-15T04:18:19.340+05:30Home Quarantined Day 1Nothing to fear about, I don't show any symptoms. <span class="st_sharethis_large" displaytext="ShareThis"></span><div><br /></div><div>One call, rush to meet someone, a Cab ride --- called it a day!</div><div><br /></div><div>Two days later, the Cab Aggregator called me with a news - Driver has turned positive. </div><div><br /></div><div>That one clicked the panic button, aah for my wife at least. We as a family are sort of locked down in this place we call our home with a 1yr old kid and my mother in law. Except for me, none of my family members have been out of the main door more than twice since mid-March. My wife literally tried everything to cut off from the social-mingling, new mom's paranoia, and yesterday the one thing that she can utter was "irony".</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyways, I have done what's needed - informed authorities (advised to stay home, quarantined alone), locked myself in a room and living a life of King -- wife and my mother-in-law delivering all that is needed timely. But, let me tell -- it's no fun. Most of the time I have no one to talk to, no one to argue on a nonsense news running on TV, or worst of all - I can't go near my kid. That's, let me reiterate, is the worst.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started my day as usual, with work laptop and realised by late evening - that I have not moved from my place except for the most needed chores. 990 steps on my Fitbit was testimonial of my bum and backache. By evening, I realised this is not going to stay like this any more - and a quick 30mins workout and 15min/2.7km run brought my chi back in to the system.</div><div><br /></div><div>I hope what I know is true, and I be out of this room soon. Till then, I will be working more than usual days, watching Dark, completing a few course, exercising and for sure will be blogging and photographing. The worst part of all these excitement - video call and a glimpse from 2m+ distance (I told you about my wife) is the only way to interact with my son.</div>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0Doha, Qatar25.2854473 51.531039799999988-3.0247865361788442 16.374789799999988 53.595681136178847 86.687289799999988tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-56170686942995723462017-06-29T11:11:00.000+05:302017-06-29T11:11:45.580+05:30RePost: In search of Nirvana: Prabalgad - A beautiful Day Trek in Monsoons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Kalavnatin in clouds, as we looked at it from Prabalgad</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNxayOZeVw6uXqcM6O5ggf7wawVJSBW7sgtnoukP8WkkFKRkn5HiM1t4LZLAGcmVUlXT3wj5ckJAw8Rm_PN92HNKmzwgKhEr8KEj5aNx72Icuv7LoGyNAoeFvjqQTCDtsjPPUum2hcO6o/s1600/GOPR3090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have been to Prabalgad twice, but for some reasons (reasonable/non-reasonable!) I couldn't write about it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, going easy way - I am re-posting a very comprehensive post written by my fellow trekker <a href="https://plus.google.com/109884821442010499043" target="_blank">Kranti</a>. <i>Also, I will update the post soon with trekking route for Prabalgad, which you can use with your Navigation app to "easily" navigate to the Top, else "getting lost and finding the way" is still the Best Way :)</i></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://nomadic-drive.blogspot.com/2016/07/prabalgad-beautiful-day-trek-in-monsoons.html?spref=bl">Prabalgad - A beautiful Day Trek in Monsoons</a>: </span></b><br />
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<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Pahad chadne ki kya Jarurat hai?” – Mom</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Tumhara beta pagal ho gaya hai” – Dad<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Mama/Uncle you are damn cool, man” - Nephews/Nieces<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Gaadi se jaana, bike se nahi” – Loved ones<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Pahad chadna mere liye sirf ek trek nahi balki ek nasha hai, meditation hai” – Me #filmy</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, so with all of these above, finally started our much-awaited Trek to Prabalgad/Kalavantin. We have been planning for this trek for more than a week now. Although the group was new to me except for Samir aka Sam, it took no time for all of us to mingle and become buddies. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXaxzk8nBDF5S7XqOwTM4moaB9Eyo0z1XSRxKlNwZQVPLfzlnr3Bw3JiDwPcV2YdUWjTPl7KFTYOsuH8YtecNkY5qnw3VtyJ-2uSLUTGZPFwdaqzJ4uyZ3-pRUaIlLsRHzByJHx0RKRi6/s1600/GOPR3040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="1600" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXaxzk8nBDF5S7XqOwTM4moaB9Eyo0z1XSRxKlNwZQVPLfzlnr3Bw3JiDwPcV2YdUWjTPl7KFTYOsuH8YtecNkY5qnw3VtyJ-2uSLUTGZPFwdaqzJ4uyZ3-pRUaIlLsRHzByJHx0RKRi6/s640/GOPR3040.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On a super rainy Sunday of June 2016, being monsoon the biggest motivating factor for all of us, we started our journey from Mumbai. We were 5 of us where Sam was supposed to pick me up at 6 in the morning from my basera at Andheri, (as usual he got delayed by 45 odd minutes, I forgive him :p) and 3 more guys aka Punit, Papa dude (Anoop) and Shashank were to join us from Navi Mumbai. Sam and I cruised at the speed of 90-100 in Sam’s beloved RE with no rains in background (shit, why the hell it is not raining today) little did we know that we were cruising “Bhagwan Bharose” because supposedly a nut & Bolt which connects the handle and tank of motorcycle was almost gone. Sam, being an experienced rider figured that out soon before everything went off and we got off safely. We took deep breadth, thanked God for our new life – Whoa, Adventure has already started.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>To read more, click <a href="https://nomadic-drive.blogspot.in/2016/07/prabalgad-beautiful-day-trek-in-monsoons.html" target="_blank">here </a></i></span></div>
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-3179652477088228692015-01-05T11:06:00.000+05:302017-06-29T11:10:53.519+05:30Hoolangapar - Home of Indian Gibbons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Known as the Knowledge city of Assam – <b>Jorhat </b>is a small town
in the NorthEast India with a unique distinction of sheltering India’s only
population of Apes – the <b>Gibbons</b>. <b><i>Hoolangapar Gibbon Sanctuary </i></b>spreads across
an area of about 21 km sq and is named after </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hoolock Gibbons</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Not just the Gibbons, it also houses 7 species of
monkeys out of total 15 species that are found in India, varied species of birds,
spiders and squirrels.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6ZXaZJn_HmVxPLURiPzWYDh3JVaRB2duermdRfRruMbWqpF5dePays5qiFzmxjAT-tVk28N8e__FkHTfAERU-K_4nn8XwDZQlGJuIl8OMX1iPxcNjnGo1P1Uv7bGz4meE_v5KBOp6NF3/s1600/DSC_0124_25_26_shadow_web++(1)_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6ZXaZJn_HmVxPLURiPzWYDh3JVaRB2duermdRfRruMbWqpF5dePays5qiFzmxjAT-tVk28N8e__FkHTfAERU-K_4nn8XwDZQlGJuIl8OMX1iPxcNjnGo1P1Uv7bGz4meE_v5KBOp6NF3/s1600/DSC_0124_25_26_shadow_web++(1)_HDR.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;">A morning walk inside the Hoolangapar Gibbon Sanctuary</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Gibbons </b>are the Apes and are differentiated on smaller size,
lower sexual dimorphism, no nesting habits from the Greater Apes. Hoolock
gibbons are the second largest of the gibbons and spread from NE India to
Myanmar, with smaller populations in Bangladesh and China. Hoolangapar
Sanctuary provides an unparalleled opportunity to meet these gibbons in their
natural habitat. Also, the sanctuary has India’s only population of nocturnal primates
– the <b>Slow Loris</b>. With distinctive large eyes, every species of Slow Loris has
been identified either Vulnerable or Endangered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Spiders represent the other attraction for macro-hunters,
with large webs and colorful tentacles – they naturally attract their victims
as well as photo-enthuiasts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2lC3bivkSN8ypz_m2NTwRPAutDRcX8t0vH36Nq9isP1VgNYwJdF0bZFUPpOfnHqckK683GmkTDg3Eyax8IkvsyTaTlm4SMd49QERa8LiIVXLRQZolnbVe3BIQNQOyk7BUgEPJtFrL3zi/s1600/DSC_0057_Spider+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2lC3bivkSN8ypz_m2NTwRPAutDRcX8t0vH36Nq9isP1VgNYwJdF0bZFUPpOfnHqckK683GmkTDg3Eyax8IkvsyTaTlm4SMd49QERa8LiIVXLRQZolnbVe3BIQNQOyk7BUgEPJtFrL3zi/s1600/DSC_0057_Spider+(2).jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>Gasteracantha dalyi -</i> the Spiny Orb- Weaver</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68_5J4cs8NKYEOc2X3u0m-ScdQ7Qu8LnEkGWsucz5tdwamR88N_ap5AnK2W5F9p8UMmiVLqnuTZakYUpHpLVWJHTMpz7DQlKv82OcTl9paYfwRxcUe5eLl_lYbfsog-Z1TVlZgmpj3ooP/s1600/DSC_0131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #444444;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68_5J4cs8NKYEOc2X3u0m-ScdQ7Qu8LnEkGWsucz5tdwamR88N_ap5AnK2W5F9p8UMmiVLqnuTZakYUpHpLVWJHTMpz7DQlKv82OcTl9paYfwRxcUe5eLl_lYbfsog-Z1TVlZgmpj3ooP/s1600/DSC_0131.jpg" width="424" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #444444;">Nephila pilipes - the Golden Silk Orb - Weaver</span></i></td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How to reach?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jorhat is well connected by rail, road and air
transportation modes. Jorhat has daily connecting flight to Kolkata and can
also be reached by train. Mariani (MXN) is the main station, situated some
17kms from the Jorhat town. A very well managed NH 37 connects the town to
Dibrugharh (~140 km, 2 hours) and Guwahati (~300 km, 5 hours). There are many
Budget to 3 Stars hotels in town.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sanctuary is located at about 5-10 minutes’ drive from
Mariani station.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Best Time?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">October to February is generally suggested as best time,
though the park can be visited anytime except during Monsoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Take Aways</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Jorhat is a small well connected town in Assam.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Hoolangapar Gibbon Sanctuary has an unique
distinction to house India’s only population of Gibbons and Slow Loris; and it
offer a very high bio-diversity in a very small area.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Best time is October to February.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Take your camera, capture and bring back the
memories.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i><span style="color: #444444;">Be responsible and Don’t litter.</span></i></b></span></li>
</ol>
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-91260521212747782562015-01-04T00:43:00.001+05:302015-01-04T00:44:05.020+05:302014: The Year it was<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Julley!</i></span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Second word that best describes me is procrastinator. You don’t
need to ask me why, check the last date I posted something or in fact the fact
that I am posting <i>The Year it was</i> on
the fourth day of New Year tells it well. And, now when you ask what’s the
first word, I promise I will write on it someday soon (<i>God promise it is </i>:p)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This year had really something I wish to have every year –
lots and lots of travelling. It all started with solo Kutch ride and ended with
a drive to Murudeshwar, I changed job – travelling played a big role in that
too, I met someone and realized that there still can be a life (met
momentarily, realized - well, perhaps on real terms), I almost touched all the
corners of the country – chronologically Kutch in West, Leh (finally) in North,
Imphal (yippy) in East and Murudeshwar in South.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Only thing that I regret about the year was less of riding,
though travelling did compensate it to a good extent. Also, that I couldn’t write,
not that I didn’t want to but I actually couldn’t for no reasons as such.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And when a picture has a capability to tell a thousand words,
a lazy bum like me of course resorts to pictures:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPw_ffuBs3CvdNbO67qSTx5b1-c2Pdwz5BzO0A33BENAlD724PfAKCBP5YUXaH5O3qKK3QRr85BbIGau-xkwGkdaQiP4DVNh8mY8EQ4qqNffStlkFqTddb0pA149T6OQ506wCZIoYzzfq/s1600/WP_20131229_13_00_07_Pro20131229192119_tonemapped(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPw_ffuBs3CvdNbO67qSTx5b1-c2Pdwz5BzO0A33BENAlD724PfAKCBP5YUXaH5O3qKK3QRr85BbIGau-xkwGkdaQiP4DVNh8mY8EQ4qqNffStlkFqTddb0pA149T6OQ506wCZIoYzzfq/s1600/WP_20131229_13_00_07_Pro20131229192119_tonemapped(1).jpg" height="360" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's how the 2013 ended and I started a 2014...on a solo Kutch ride</span></i><br>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2015/01/2014-year-it-was.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-14505303133107755492014-11-05T11:17:00.000+05:302017-11-02T15:19:40.706+05:30Highly Dynamic London - Set 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A good mood can always bring someone back to writing. After a
tiring training (working) week at Oxford which happened to overlap with a <i>changing</i> mind, I finally had a day to devour
the City of Palaces- London!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I spent the hoping on hoping down the London
underground/tube trains, visiting and capturing places in HDR and whenever had
some idle – thinking about the coming week – what to do what not to do! Anyways,
this blog is not about how to travel London, but to share the HDR London I saw…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The London Eye</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have always wanted to visit this modern wonder, and believe me it was as wonderful as it could have been to a solo traveler...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br></span>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3kgjPgUFf_BZDDjzwDY5bTDiQ-M6v3-thbmXjzW5mkDLubg_9w89lxDMpvPaKX4aUq0-6TUFhqa9GjnjF_N4UtRJ4Tkrw5AEYtCTeQjUDIvRBqbni01wS9kON2OPKd75pDPLpeqji7He/s1600/BigWheel_0054_55_56+(1)_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3kgjPgUFf_BZDDjzwDY5bTDiQ-M6v3-thbmXjzW5mkDLubg_9w89lxDMpvPaKX4aUq0-6TUFhqa9GjnjF_N4UtRJ4Tkrw5AEYtCTeQjUDIvRBqbni01wS9kON2OPKd75pDPLpeqji7He/s1600/BigWheel_0054_55_56+(1)_HDR.jpg" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The London Eye</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br></span>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_wMTR_jGi6V27D2F5V50WiYYZfrkIqQDnT7ikM2xZFZiEIDG51YSkcDHGdyfq8UWJgwMFUTAmcIClEE0ZeAp-qynbG5dciOpqPfamYkwVQ1BhKStQ8E6fA9uwfzyjzIndQvlnODLdJ4X/s1600/DSC_0095_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_wMTR_jGi6V27D2F5V50WiYYZfrkIqQDnT7ikM2xZFZiEIDG51YSkcDHGdyfq8UWJgwMFUTAmcIClEE0ZeAp-qynbG5dciOpqPfamYkwVQ1BhKStQ8E6fA9uwfzyjzIndQvlnODLdJ4X/s1600/DSC_0095_HDR.jpg" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Modern Wonder in HDR</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br></span>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Few moments at Big Ben and a walk on Westminster Bridge was another wonderful experience for me...</span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2014/11/highly-dynamic-london-set-1.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-84909928711066233002014-06-27T11:53:00.001+05:302014-06-27T11:53:41.421+05:30Leh'd!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, planned - postponed - planned - unplanned...series of Yes and No...year after years...finally a plan that took a shape to be executed...and finally it collapsed! Fourth year of Planning a Ride to the Top of the World(<i>ly senses</i>), and it Flopped when the guy who planned it - booked a bed in Hospital for some unknown disease that turned out to 'fresh water worms' but killed his plan!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsaRE4cQbT8/UG3ellj9QuI/AAAAAAAALKI/K1VOEMgP-cE/s1600/D+5+Zanskar+%252811%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsaRE4cQbT8/UG3ellj9QuI/AAAAAAAALKI/K1VOEMgP-cE/s1600/D+5+Zanskar+%252811%2529.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When it starts to feel like cliche (like my life), I get to the point...I am leaving for Leh tomorrow morning! This time - NO PLANS! All I have got is a ticket to Jammu and a return ticket from Leh. What I will miss most on my ride is ofcourse you don't know and I won't tell, but <i>Achtung!</i> will for sure be missed a lot; but it's his fault - he didn't start the day he was scheduled to be packed and leave for Jammu; perhaps he didn't want to start it alone! Epic ride it is! (Btw, to those who don't know, <i>Achtung!</i> is my Bull - an RE TBTS 350.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What next? I don't know...all I have is leaves, ATM Cards, rucksack and camera bag (if I don't count the shadow I carry everywhere)...and I know it will be hell of a trip!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next year....trekking Zanskar with DoW and if possible Mansarovar!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I will try to post updates about the trip at <a href="http://twitter.com/PunitDubey" target="_blank">Twitter </a>and <a href="http://instagr.am/Ghumakkar" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, if you are <i>vella</i> these days, may follow me out there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-185999975265480442013-12-17T01:16:00.001+05:302013-12-17T11:53:37.664+05:30Tata Safari Storme Meet with Anil Kapoor and Indibloggers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">It was not just another sunny
Weekday, it was a day when we were scheduled to meet and have lunch with</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;">non-other than the Jhakkas</i><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">Anil Kapoor. Well, it all started a
few days back at around 11PM when I received this mail from <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/" target="_blank">Indiblogger </a>to
confirm if I would like to have an</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;">Exclusive
Lunch with Anil Kapoor</i><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">courtesy</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.tatasafari.com/" target="_blank">Tata Storme</a> and 24 – The Show</i><span style="text-align: left;">.
Not very much into Bollywood, I asked my friends should I go. And, it was like
everybody had a single answer,</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="text-align: left;"> </span><i style="text-align: left;">of
course. (check out the the <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/06/a-wow-drive-and-photography-experience.html" target="_blank">blogpost </a>which led me to this meet)</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebg29xNpvzo/UoZyVFIqDfI/AAAAAAAAR8M/YctHQk10pR4/s1600/AK+invite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebg29xNpvzo/UoZyVFIqDfI/AAAAAAAAR8M/YctHQk10pR4/s1600/AK+invite.jpg" height="400" width="283"></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was picked up at Vashi with
another Indiblogger <a href="http://universalrover.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Deepti </a>by Abhinav in a Bus bound to Pune from Dadar. There
I met Ira and another guy (probably Varun) and also the other 3 bloggers
(<a href="http://meghanahassan.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Megahna</a>, <a href="http://nandinispeaks.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Nandini </a>and <a href="http://vaisakhimishra.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Vaisakhi</a>). A group of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>tweeples</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>was also there, who have won some
twitter contest. As the journey took its course, I befriended with the Bloggers
and few of the tweeples. With the day unfolding we came to know more about the
event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwxKw96NfBM0RSw6ymAk5itej0pZg-9QzEqWO03tNx_i7gwbWMWOIEMwq-ptqHNEsQC4pyYGpWK2NfqRoV2vkWO5Vo7NdpG8FNrreDcX1BGwnCE-nSonILlpIhKY_1Ofbu6gfEJaFxmvJ/s1600/DSC_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwxKw96NfBM0RSw6ymAk5itej0pZg-9QzEqWO03tNx_i7gwbWMWOIEMwq-ptqHNEsQC4pyYGpWK2NfqRoV2vkWO5Vo7NdpG8FNrreDcX1BGwnCE-nSonILlpIhKY_1Ofbu6gfEJaFxmvJ/s1600/DSC_0012.JPG" height="424" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Inside the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.tatamotors.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Tata Motors">Tata Motors</a>' Pune Plant</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We reached Tata’s Pune factory at
around 10 AM, and Ira took the bloggers with her for an exclusive tour of the
plant. I must say it was a fascinating trip. Fun wasn’t just watching Anil
Kapoor and his awed fanfare but also witnessing the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>karma-bhoomi<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>of visionaries like of JRD and
Ratan Tata. The trip did recalled me the famous story of Sudha Murthy and her
postcard on gender bias at the TELCO (now Tata Motors Ltd), which made her the
first female engineer in the ‘<i>fraternity’</i>. Touring in an open Tata
Safari we saw the assembly line, press line, research centre etc along with the
convoy of Anil Kapoor and Tata Motors Sr VP Ankush Arora. Hopping in and out of
our vehicle, Tata executives were more than eager to share with us about the
different departments of the factory. I particularly like the Torture track
where some combat truck was undergoing some tests. </span><br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GRiA5SWCJxE/UoZyYZF69QI/AAAAAAAAR8U/ctyYXsR25zI/s1600/DSC_0025-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GRiA5SWCJxE/UoZyYZF69QI/AAAAAAAAR8U/ctyYXsR25zI/s1600/DSC_0025-001.JPG" height="424" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Torture Track</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With fans (of course of Anil
Kapoor) all around cheering and clicking snaps, taking videos, we seriously
felt like celebrities at that time. I wonder did they try searching for our
faces in the later episodes of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>24</i>!
Shy!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8vDAUinV3zQ/UoZw6RfuTxI/AAAAAAAAR6E/KI_-HOXA_Ew/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8vDAUinV3zQ/UoZw6RfuTxI/AAAAAAAAR6E/KI_-HOXA_Ew/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" height="424" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My first shot....Anil with the plant employees</span></i><br>
</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/12/tata-safari-storme-meet-with-anil.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-8289052816661249422013-12-09T22:57:00.002+05:302013-12-09T23:03:28.940+05:30Aisle Be Damned and the Art of Air Travelling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">What
have I noticed in all my not that frequent and extravagant but still
give-or-take average air travelling hours?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Definitely,
I have learnt a lot through frisking, re-frisking, picking up thrice in a
single day for (again) frisking, left and stamped bag tags, check-in
queues, aisle, window and security door seats, hot and cold meals, coffee
and a glass of water calls and what not. Then came to my delight this book “<i>Aisle
Be Damned</i>” and I realized there’s still so much to learn about the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Art of Air Travelling</i>!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqR8gFjmycnEweGgwf-Isayx7417gH190NysdfxJI21HYJUSE8zOS5iyTOk_x1QISJxE2Sq0imgrZe2iQPVAbA-rtl1dpuxVVt3xK7LubrPGFcbPVwyd3KWDijkuYcMG-sQ5-xY7oVmar/s1600/Aisle+Be+Damned+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Aisle Be Damned" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqR8gFjmycnEweGgwf-Isayx7417gH190NysdfxJI21HYJUSE8zOS5iyTOk_x1QISJxE2Sq0imgrZe2iQPVAbA-rtl1dpuxVVt3xK7LubrPGFcbPVwyd3KWDijkuYcMG-sQ5-xY7oVmar/s1600/Aisle+Be+Damned+(2).jpg" height="640" title="Aisle Be Damned" width="360" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aisle Be Damned!</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Written by an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>over worked and over traveled Corporate Executive Rishi Piparaiya </i>that
too while waiting to catch the flights, clicking the tiny keys on his
BlackBerry, the book talks about the nontraditional anecdotes to fly<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>safely</i>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>arguably intelligently<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>luxuriously</i>. Though, I haven’t
tried any of it,<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><i>and
too shy to apply</i>, some cheat-codes are reasonably tempting to be learnt and
applied while choosing the right queue with right move to win a last minute
Business class seat<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>free</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>on one’s economy fare ticket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Trivia</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Book's Title: Aisle Be Damned</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Author: Rishi Piapraiya</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Page Count: 214</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Price: Rs 250 (Rs 188 at <a href="http://www.infibeam.com/Books/aisle-damned-rishi-piparaiya/9788184954654.html?id=Black&trackId=punit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Infibeam</i></a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ISBN: <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.222222328186035px; font-weight: bold;">8184954654</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ideas like carrying a machine oil,
spare wheel, jack and jumper cables will for sure ridicule you a bit; but as you
go through the text you will be highly convinced to pack all these for all your
next air journeys. Methods to win a Business seat are no doubt one of the USPs
of the book. Rishi takes the reader on a real flight with talk that starts from
standing at check-in queues, frisking, boarding, deciding on window or aisle
(by the way, I am an All time Window guy), explaining routine flight safety
jargon, in-flight booze and food, striking conversations, idea of being picked
up at airport and finally putting a long list of references and acknowledgment
(<i>that itself was an interesting read</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is certainly a light
conversational book, for everyone to read, irrespective of whether they travel
or not. In fact, it gives an amiably pleasurable viewpoint to the things we do
notice but fail to acknowledge. I really loved the non-complex flow of language
and the fun of reading the text was certainly multiplied with the apt images. It’s
a must read at an airport lounge, <i>and for those who are planning to read it in
their couch</i> at home – mind it, you won’t regret it, <b><i>the book is in itself a
complete journey</i></b>.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>(My sincere thanks to Sudarshan and Anjali from Rishi's team to offer me this wonderful Book to read and review. I regret not to able to attend the Launch Party, but that's another story.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">P.S.: Would like
to add at least <i>Three</i> advices to the fellow air travellers. <b>First</b>, if you are an
Indian – do carry Tabasco sauce, it’s a divine remedy to tasteless continental.
<b>Second</b>, dear Vegetarians, on an abroad trip (esp South East Asia) – do pack dozens of <i>Maggi 2
Minutes</i>, it’s better to have something than nothing. <b>Third,</b> always be an hour before the boarding time; not like me who reached the Launch party of <i>Aisle Be Damned</i>, just 24hours late, yupp just 24hrs!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-37712783945632493292013-11-21T16:12:00.001+05:302013-11-21T16:12:22.394+05:30Few Days at Havelock: How, When and Where?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(It's a second post on Havelock in the series of posts on <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/Andaman" target="_blank">Andaman</a>. For the teaser, click <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/08/escaping-road-and-land-for-waters.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Havelock is a beautiful small island situated at about 57 km North East
of the Capital town of Port Blair in Andaman Sea. Named after Maj General Henry
Havelock, it is the largest among the Ritchie’s Archiepelago islands spread
across an area of about 114 sq km.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l9OfFeImVTQ/UhJ83L2mM5I/AAAAAAAAOww/HE-YDrAQWO8/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l9OfFeImVTQ/UhJ83L2mM5I/AAAAAAAAOww/HE-YDrAQWO8/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" height="424" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">En Route Havelock, On the government ferry - Under the Heavenly Sky</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: #e06666; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This post is all about How to reach, When is the Best time and Where to stay in the Havelock.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">HOW?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Havelock Island can be reached by ferry or seaplane from Port Blair.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></i></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Reaching Port Blair by
Air</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are direct flights to Veer Savarkar International Airport, Port
Blair from Chennai, and Kolkata by Air India, JetLite, Jet Airways and Spice
Jet. To get sweet deals, book the tickets at least two months in advance else
booking tickets for Bangkok would be cheaper ;)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Reaching Port Blair by Ships</i></span></span></b></div>
</div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/11/few-days-at-havelock-how-when-and-where.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-33430243793724134752013-11-13T00:41:00.000+05:302013-11-13T00:41:02.362+05:30[ReBlog] A Soap Foam like bug: Spittlebug<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have always been wondering what this spit thing all around on the bushes, generally near the joint of the branches or leaves. Unable to get an answer (<i>and never realizing about Google'ing it</i>), I stopped taking pictures and perhaps started deleting whatever I had.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqOGCGPTwFn7td2qRkynx-uOBXBDj4RG1kxqdMUPnK3GNwXGp7P-VMofXflMOOO1tafoP6nQiNjQ4qUumMr0XjKBAlYXOfhuiFJEfi92DdXU4zL4pDRZZk4EpwB6NrutX9U1zrO9TLcpy/s1600/IMG_0264-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqOGCGPTwFn7td2qRkynx-uOBXBDj4RG1kxqdMUPnK3GNwXGp7P-VMofXflMOOO1tafoP6nQiNjQ4qUumMr0XjKBAlYXOfhuiFJEfi92DdXU4zL4pDRZZk4EpwB6NrutX9U1zrO9TLcpy/s640/IMG_0264-001.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">SpittleBug - Shot at Matheran in 2010</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then few days back, I came across <b>DesiTraveller's </b>blog post on something called <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froghopper" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Froghopper">Spittle Bug</a>! Woot! It's something like a larvae secreting some foam (or spitting) around it as a protective cover. To know more about these <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercopidae" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Cercopidae">Cercopidae</a> Family bugs, you should visit <a href="http://desitraveler.com/spittlebug-foam-bug-spit-bug/" target="_blank"><b><i>here</i></b></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">[REBLOGed] </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<h2 justify="" style="background-color: #a7ced6; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 0.5em 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Spittlebug: The Soap Foam Bug</span></h2>
<div style="background-color: #a7ced6; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few days ago I wrote about our visit to the <a href="http://desitraveler.com/nature-farm-organic-food-farming/" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #227ad1; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Back to Nature: Visit to a Nature Farm">Nature farm</a> where they grow organic food and do not use any chemical pesticides. While walking on the farm I noticed a small foam kind of thing on one of the plants.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: #a7ced6; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was as if somebody was washing clothes and dropped some soapy foam there at best or somebody had spit at worst. As it was just below a wild flower it was looking rather out-of-place. I clicked a few pictures and was wondering what it could be. I remembered something called Foam bug or more scientifically Spittle bugs. They are also called Froghoppers due to the ability to jump many times its length just like a frog.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Spittle bug with yellow flower " class="" data-jpibfi-indexer="0" data-recalc-dims="1" height="264" src="http://i1.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5510/10624155624_31dc88cd7b_c.jpg?resize=695%2C460" style="border: 3px solid black; margin: 3px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Spittle Bug" width="400" /></span></div>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px auto 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 810px;">
<div class="pinit-overlay" data-jpibfi-indexer="0" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-shadow: none; height: 460px; left: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 279.359375px; width: 695px; z-index: 200;" title="Spittle Bug">
</div>
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; line-height: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px 3px 2px; text-align: center;">
<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Spittle bugs leave a trail of soap foam kind of substance</span></strong></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Soon I found more of the same foamy substance on a few more plants. In most cases the foam was near a joint of leaf and branch on the plant. On careful examination it appeared there was an Insect larvae in the foam. I decided to click some more pictures and did some search on Mr. Google. The foam is secreted by the larvae and the adults control the urge to spit all around and behave like good citizens ( <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Pan and Gutka chewers please learn: even bugs don’t spit around when they grow up</em></strong>)</span></div>
<span style="background-color: #a7ced6; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- See more at: <a href="http://desitraveler.com/spittlebug-foam-bug-spit-bug/#sthash.Ycxawp7p.dpuf" target="_blank">http://desitraveler.com/spittlebug-foam-bug-spit-bug/#sthash.Ycxawp7p.dpuf</a></span></b></span><br />
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-52938014918856860592013-10-26T23:35:00.000+05:302013-11-13T00:24:24.340+05:30Quick Post on Travelling to Thailand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strike><span class="st_sharethis_large" displaytext="ShareThis"></span>
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What about receiving a Picture Postcard from Thailand? Follow me at <a href="http://twitter.com/PunitDubey">twitter.com/PunitDubey</a> and reply my tweet on the same (little search you have to do ;)</strike></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="st_email_large" displaytext="Email"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bad, just got one reply and yet to confirm if she received the card or not! But, let me tell you Thailand did offer me a variety of fascinating Picture Postcards and rejuvenated my love for those.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, worth sharing is that I <strike>am reading</strike> completed <b>Rishi Piaraiya'</b>s <b>Aisle Be Damned </b><strike>here while waiting for flight</strike> on airports, and it's certainly a book worth reading, expect the review soon :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>What could be a better book on airport than one written on airports #AisleBeDamned by RishiPiparaiya #Book #TSBC <a href="http://t.co/nwvrnZ80nW">http://t.co/nwvrnZ80nW</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By the way, Ghumakkar is on first official abroad travelling trip and its my first smartphone blogpost :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">cheers...</span><br />
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-91175865495019618162013-10-23T13:00:00.001+05:302013-10-23T13:02:54.013+05:30My Adventures Through the Historical City of Delhi in India [Guest Post]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">India
is an exotic subcontinent with almost everything to offer to its tourists –
right from lofty mountains, mysterious jungles to tranquil seas and colorful
cities. Being a history enthusiast, I decided to opt for the capital city of
India, which is popular for its wide array of historical monuments as well as
interesting heritage. New Delhi is a beautiful combination of the modern and
the ancient and I was amazed at every step by the kind of diversity it offers.
The one day I spent in New Delhi was memorable in every sense of the word.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A look at the lofty Qutab Minar<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
decided to start off with this well known historical landmark in South Delhi. Touted
as the tallest brick minaret in the world, the Qutab Minar has five stories,
each of which is covered with beautiful carvings of the scriptures from the
Koran. There are various other monuments in the same site – some intact and
some degenerated. I also saw the famous Ashokan pillar here – the wrought iron
marvel. There are many fascinating stories revolving around this minaret and
the other monuments around which I heard from the guides walking around with
various groups of tourists here. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9OiYTGiiYGa9fu3RK6PKXtAFODwVfKyBQk2UrOW9u_sTPvUeh3b4n8tpjw7XR4IK8F5uawkcfXnQaJ3H-Z7B5qwi6NMP1in4BUZz2Rg4Bx9q2gWcNxZB18kMQ3drTFJKUKYgmSIu3fVA/s1600/Paul-Kutub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9OiYTGiiYGa9fu3RK6PKXtAFODwVfKyBQk2UrOW9u_sTPvUeh3b4n8tpjw7XR4IK8F5uawkcfXnQaJ3H-Z7B5qwi6NMP1in4BUZz2Rg4Bx9q2gWcNxZB18kMQ3drTFJKUKYgmSIu3fVA/s320/Paul-Kutub.jpg" width="240"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Qutab Minar</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A visit to the serene Lotus
Temple<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Also located in South Delhi, I ventured into
the Lotus Temple, the more popular name for the original Bahai Temple. I looked
in amazement at the beautiful structure, shaped in the form of a lotus. This
temple proclaims a faith whereby all the religions and people are treated as
one. I went in and experienced the feeling of serenity that seemed to seep into
every brick and mortar of this temple. After coming out of the temple, I looked
around at the well maintained gardens and pond surrounding the temple and
couldn’t help but admire the beauty of it all. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></span></div>
</div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/10/my-adventures-through-historical-city.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-67454648294190681922013-09-26T01:06:00.000+05:302013-09-26T01:06:06.740+05:30A Macro Ride to Kas Plateau<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">Have you ever appreciated that visiting few places
becomes a religion for you? Like, visiting that particular </span><i style="text-align: left;">chae wala</i><span style="text-align: left;">
shop around the corner in Kolkata or that old movie theater that has stopped
screening new movies in Old Delhi since a long time or that particular CCD in
Lucknow where you had coffee with your soul mate? Nostalgic, isn't it!</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I find this theory true to our travelling too. Just a
view of Vishwanath Temple of BHU, idling at Assi and Dashaswamedh Ghats of
Banaras, trekking every year at Naneghat, bathing at Nagaon - Alibaug are the
few of the <i>travelling </i>things that I do almost every year. The new
entrant to this annual travelling pilgrimage list is Kas Plateau. Just like the
<a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2012/10/kaas-plateau-maharashtras-own-valley-of.html" target="_blank">last year</a> we rode to this place again and were happier than ever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US">Trivia</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kas (Kaas)
Pathaar or Kaas Plateau is located in the Satara District, some 30 kilometers
off NH-4 (now NH 48) towards West. Plateau is about 300 kilometers from Mumbai
via NH-4 and 375km via NH 17. We took NH-4, which is obviously a faster and
better option to ride, though NH-17 is more scenic and the last leg of some 70
km through ghats would be rather amazing to ride.<a href="" name="more"></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJSBATK4HFKJnEvhipm8-DztzkDCtEcao0P8KLAKbYoU3bhpn7mIeb4mIPexmUwUpbafx0FhGi-AiFJ6nOZN6UzpdR2UEdpa2LJDkUj0Z89YhF8Io3Joswc2Av8FV4J4ZbHTin1GNEPGD/s1600/WP_20130922_012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJSBATK4HFKJnEvhipm8-DztzkDCtEcao0P8KLAKbYoU3bhpn7mIeb4mIPexmUwUpbafx0FhGi-AiFJ6nOZN6UzpdR2UEdpa2LJDkUj0Z89YhF8Io3Joswc2Av8FV4J4ZbHTin1GNEPGD/s640/WP_20130922_012.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Flower flower everywhere....<br>(Bed of </i><i>Eriocaulon sedgewickii Gend as </i><i style="line-height: 15pt;">shot by Lumia 720)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Kas,
situated in the Shahydri Range (Western Ghats), is now declared as a <a href="http://www.kaasplateau.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=85" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">UNESCO Biodiversity World Heritage site</span></a>. It derives its name
from <i>Kaasa</i> tree (<i>Elaeocarpus glandulosus</i>). Though the <i>Kaasa</i>
blooms in March, whole plateau is adorned by a <i>wild</i> number of
wild flowers during late monsoon and generally post-monsoon. These flowers stay
for a few weeks and that too is dependent upon the monsoon.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US">Tip:</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“For the plateau is a
protected non-parking zone, vehicles are generally to be parked at about a
kilometer ahead of the plateau. Though there is a designated parking area, its
better not to park there, it being mucky, and park on the side of narrow road (<i>narrowing
it more to get traffucked later</i>). Advisable is to park a kilometer or so
before Kaas, there is a bifurcation towards a temple, where one can park; that
way, it would be easier to avoid traffic.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: #f1c232;">UPDATE:</b> This year we found rather bad traffic and on
bikes took about an hour to ride through some 1-2 kilometer final stretch. Best
part was that now bikes were allowed to park near the protected area.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ride:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time we were three <i>Decide and Ride </i>bulleteers
– me, <a href="https://twitter.com/SamirSaxena" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Samir aka Samzy</a> and<a href="https://twitter.com/SNAIK86" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Sandesh aks Sandy</a> - and no pillion. So, it was a perfectly
‘<i>pure</i> <i>ride</i>’ and the treat of macro-photography made it an amazing one. However
the <i>Chae</i> breaks were undoubtedly the most interesting part of the ride. Not
only we devoured the refreshing tea at almost every hour but also spent ‘quality
<i>bitching</i> time’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo Story:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time I had a single aim for the Kas – Macro (Nikon’s
Micro) photography. Equipped with 18-55 mm kit lens mounted with cheap (eBay)
Macro (+4) lens, I could able to appreciate the macro world in a sense I had
never had before.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vGrwDp6pbeo/UkM1UH-I3MI/AAAAAAAARdA/M7NEGiQwRP0/s1600/combined%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="84" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vGrwDp6pbeo/UkM1UH-I3MI/AAAAAAAARdA/M7NEGiQwRP0/s640/combined%25281%2529.jpg" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Click and enlarge the pic how he holds and enjoys the bud</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/09/a-macro-ride-to-kas-plateau.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-34899298002273552032013-09-25T00:18:00.002+05:302013-09-25T00:20:17.434+05:30A Day at Global Vipassana Pagoda (A Photo Story)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What I like most about the cities we live in is the
places we generally not aware about. Like the case of one of its own kind <i>Butterfly
Park</i> of Thane, which is at stone throw distance from my place and I came to
knew about it a few months back only. Then there is this Pagoda – another one
of its own kind – world renowned and still not known to many city dwellers. We visited this place to take pictures and let me confirm it, we were stoned by the colors and the mystical sky (check out the <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/09/a-day-at-global-vipassana-pagoda-photo.html#more" target="_blank">Photo Story</a> at the bottom of the post)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Located at Northern most corner of the Megacity of
Mumbai, across the Gorai creek, <b>Global Vipassana Pagoda</b> is a meditation hall
built out of gratitude to the Buddha, his teaching and the community of monks
practicing his teaching (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Vipassana_Pagoda" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>). </span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OCEH5in_rVE/Ui95wJ7pmaI/AAAAAAAAQHg/BoB0NEhXzGs/s1600/005+%25281%2529_2%2529_3%2529_tonemapped%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="410" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OCEH5in_rVE/Ui95wJ7pmaI/AAAAAAAAQHg/BoB0NEhXzGs/s640/005+%25281%2529_2%2529_3%2529_tonemapped%25281%2529.jpg" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Global <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassan%C4%81" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Vipassanā">Vipassana</a> Pagoda - HDR</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Pagoda is also known for being built on
the world's largest stone dome without any supporting pillars, at height of ~29
metres and external diameter 94.82-97.46 m. It is, thus, twice the size of the
Gol Gumbaz Dome in Bijapur (external diameter ~44m) which had been the World’s
largest hollow dome. As such the pagoda is is a copy of the Shwedagon Pagoda in
Yangon, Myanmar and it is assumed as an an expression of gratitude towards the
Myanmar for preserving the practice of Vipassana. The Pagoda also finds a place
in the list the "<b>S<a href="http://wondersofmaharashtra.in/?lang=en" target="_blank">even Wonders of Maharashtra</a></b>" declared by
Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in partnership with ABP
Majha in June 2013.</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sm9WwoaEJPY/Ui95OWO8sDI/AAAAAAAAQFQ/wWRvFWwHpSA/s1600/DSC_0066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sm9WwoaEJPY/Ui95OWO8sDI/AAAAAAAAQFQ/wWRvFWwHpSA/s640/DSC_0066.JPG" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Smaller Dome</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
</div></div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/09/a-day-at-global-vipassana-pagoda-photo.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-72175644194905648812013-08-22T20:13:00.000+05:302013-08-23T19:50:36.470+05:30Escaping the Road and the Land for the 'Waters'!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><i>(It's a teaser post on my recent trip to Andamans (Portblair and Havelock), written mainly for LonelyPlanet Escape Express, you may <a href="http://escapeexpress.lonelyplanet.in/escapediaries/index/308.html" target="_blank">also read and vote for it here</a>. A series of Detailed posts on the Islands, Beaches, Places and Diving will be published soon)</i></span></blockquote>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Yes, it was strange for me. The love for Road and Trekking was overpowered this time by the love of Beaches and actually - the Underwater adventure! Beaches have always attracted me, so a road leading to beach has always been what I would ever love to do. No thoughts, no<em> ifs-and-buts </em>just take a road that leads to Waters - and its ought to be a Real Lovely trip!</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">But, this time it was different. Just the Water and only Water called me. This time after a long wait, and believe me the wait was well paid, I finally happen to take flight down to the heavenly Havelock Island of the Andamans for Scuba Diving! And what I met there, the waters, the atmospheric bars, nitrogen releasing from body, easing pressure by squeezing nose, cleaning mask, breathing dry pressurised air and Best of all 'meeting the <em>Nimo</em> (clown fish) and getting to know it's more about couple and not father-son duo, saying Hi to really lazy bum Sea Cucumbers, starry Starfishes, Lion fishes, banded Black & White Krait and the shy Christmas Tree Worm and variety of Corals and clamps and fishes and what not' just made me realize there is a bigger world waiting for us under the waters!</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><strong><span data-mce-style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br></span></strong></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><strong><span data-mce-style="font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Havelock Island</span></strong></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">This island can be reached from Portblair by Government ferries that ply thrice every day and take about 2 to 3 hours. A semi luxury boat Makruzz can also be taken during the season (September/November to March/April). And, then the fastest way to reach Havelock is India's only commercial SeaPlane service which charges around Rs 4100/- but takes just 15-20 minutes with a bonus bird's eye view of Andamans.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><img alt="Portblair Jetty" data-mce-src="/blogimages/HDR3_1_2_3_tonemapped.jpg" height="398" src="http://escapeexpress.lonelyplanet.in/blogimages/HDR3_1_2_3_tonemapped.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="600"></span></div>
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<em><span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Portblair Jetty</span></span></em></div>
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<em><span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br></span></em></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Portblair is well connected with Indian main land by air and waters via Chennai and Kolkata. A well planned Mumbai/Delhi-Portblair return air ticket (2-3 months advanced) can be done at Rs 10,000-12,000 at Air India or SpiceJet. Jet Airways’ tickets are generally costlier by Rs 2,000-3000.</span></div>
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<strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; color: maroon;" style="color: maroon; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Beaches</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">1. Radhanagar Beach: </span></strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Undoubtedly the Best beach of country and one of the Best throughout World (CNN/TripAdvisor), Radhanagar Beach is one long white sand beach with moderate to high energy waves. It's also home to World's only swimming elephant Rajan (who actually needs an appointment<img alt="Wink" border="0" data-mce-src="/assets/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-wink.gif" src="http://escapeexpress.lonelyplanet.in/assets/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-wink.gif" style="border: 0px;" title="Wink">)</span></div>
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<img alt="An HDR view of Sunset at Radhanagar" data-mce-src="/blogimages/HDR_R_3_1_2_3_tonemapped.jpg" height="398" src="http://escapeexpress.lonelyplanet.in/blogimages/HDR_R_3_1_2_3_tonemapped.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="600"></div>
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<em><span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sunset at Radhanagar Beach</span></span></em></div>
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<strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></strong></div>
</div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/08/escaping-road-and-land-for-waters.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-27466148499754368712013-08-06T14:31:00.000+05:302013-08-06T14:54:48.083+05:30The Month that was July 2013: Part 2 Camp NaNoWriMo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;">2 blog posts on </span><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/Camp%20NaNoWriMo" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;">CampNaNoWriMo</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;">20000 words </span><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/Camp%20NaNoWriMo" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;">CampNaNoWriMo</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"> novella</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">37 posts</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;">31 </span><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/PADE" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: none;">PADE </span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;">Entries</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">~7200 words Blogged</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="color: #444444;">~ 4200 PADE words</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;">This month July 2013 would be
remembered forever :) So much happened in last one month that I </span><strike style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;">will have to
publish</strike><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"> am publishing it in a 2 posts series – </span><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/08/the-month-that-was-july-2013-part-1-pade.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;" target="_blank">PADE</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"> and CampNaNoWriMo.</span><br>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Part2: Camp NaNoWriMo</span></b></h2>
</div>
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What is Camp NaNoWriMo</span></b><br>
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></b>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A sister-event to <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a> (National Novel Writing Month), Camp NaNoWriMo is a virtual camping event where writers can attempt a novel or novella in a month with a bunch of writers (7-8) in a Cabin. That way they not only support each other but also get motivated to write and write! (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Novel_Writing_Month" target="_blank">Wiki</a>)</span><br>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br></span>
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My Attempt to Camp NaNoWriMo</span></b><br>
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It started
just like that. While getting ready for <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/PADE" target="_blank">PADE</a>, I came to know about <a href="http://www.toraveabout.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ritu </a>and
that she is participating in the upcoming Camp NaNoWriMo. Motivated, <i>though foreseeing
a real tight schedule ahead</i>, I committed for a 20,000 novella. Though it was an
easy target </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(</span><i style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">especially when you put it on comparison with regular 50,000 attempts</i><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">)</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;"> and <b>I achieved it ultimately</b></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 15pt;">, I too had to struggle to achieve it. So, what I learnt?</span><br>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZ4jZlmy34AFefmCkO54bi3zPfaLPcvWpjs2zSHBp9mnp-2H5xy-TE6RsIdYcSTW_uvHWvF6n0oL-tIQPeLT82fsOh1yBFoBSlv3JnE0nWvuM36nt3TNXnW9ZApsfCGtwPdLoefEdhYJU/s1600/Winners-Certificate-July-2013+Camp+NaNoWriMo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZ4jZlmy34AFefmCkO54bi3zPfaLPcvWpjs2zSHBp9mnp-2H5xy-TE6RsIdYcSTW_uvHWvF6n0oL-tIQPeLT82fsOh1yBFoBSlv3JnE0nWvuM36nt3TNXnW9ZApsfCGtwPdLoefEdhYJU/s400/Winners-Certificate-July-2013+Camp+NaNoWriMo.JPG" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">:)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Structure Your
Novel/Novella first</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had a story in
my mind, a rough sketch of characters, their cities, background etc. But, I didn’t
put it down anywhere. As the story started unfolding with each new page, I started
to struggle remembering the names (<i>shy, I am too bad with names</i>) and a lot of
other webs that were to connect and bind them with the protagonist. In fact, at a point I meshed
up the backgrounds of the two lead characters so much that I started thinking
to go back to the previous instances and edit/re-edit it. Fortunately I didn’t plough that idea too much and chose to move on with the meshed up plot and give it a
retouch after Camp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Suggestions: </b>Do spare
a few first pages of Novel to characters, their interlinks and anything and
everything that characterizes your character from their cities to colleges,
boots to mustaches! Just everything!</span></div>
</div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/08/the-month-that-was-july-2013-part-2.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-28147409229350732932013-08-01T16:17:00.000+05:302013-08-03T14:35:26.985+05:30The Month that was July 2013: Part 1 PADE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">37 posts</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">31 <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/PADE" target="_blank">PADE </a>Entries</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~7200 words
Blogged</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">~ 4200 PADE
words</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">20000 words <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/Camp%20NaNoWriMo" target="_blank">CampNaNoWriMo</a> novella</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span>
<br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This month July
2013 would be remembered forever :) So much happened in last one month that I will
have to publish it in a 2 posts series – PADE and CampNaNoWriMo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Part1: PADE</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2wo8XYng-_gOEhxzIrfp0hab8Y09EOfyCWC5XHOLnGqUl-N1K0VrkEGyw7g1Gwyw3A9wLBNyDQ8W8DtrXOoYz-9WyRPqnJ-oU67qsZ5lSVuhLeib51envIbRBA9o9_-aWkFNy6jljQW0/s1600/Ace+of+PADE+-+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2wo8XYng-_gOEhxzIrfp0hab8Y09EOfyCWC5XHOLnGqUl-N1K0VrkEGyw7g1Gwyw3A9wLBNyDQ8W8DtrXOoYz-9WyRPqnJ-oU67qsZ5lSVuhLeib51envIbRBA9o9_-aWkFNy6jljQW0/s1600/Ace+of+PADE+-+2.jpg"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Honoured to be Ace of PADE 2013<br>(*shy* and *blush*)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I got to
know about PADE by Sfurti and Ritu KT, only a few have confirmed to
participate. And as started, <i>मंजिलें जुडती गयीं - काफ़िला बनता गया .</i> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Honestly, I was envy of the duo-girls that
why I couldn’t come up with such an idea and at same time sceptically curious
about its success. But, then I thought to let’s give my blog a <i>marathon </i>month and see what it may
return. Not just a bumper improvement in viewer counts and different ranks
(except IndiRank), this month brought me many a Blogger’ mates. This people
count is what I love earning :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNUa5gct069c051sC2S7uS0m5l0VOABJJnS7Rb9UhXLFRq3CEU_Fg48kStTCVohKK9zU4KIoiwjWPtixF7NYE-B5diBQeyMMj-w9uBg_4HMOJSVr0W6pW5i7ifMbDitqhq_FTgEn0JNDW/s1600/Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNUa5gct069c051sC2S7uS0m5l0VOABJJnS7Rb9UhXLFRq3CEU_Fg48kStTCVohKK9zU4KIoiwjWPtixF7NYE-B5diBQeyMMj-w9uBg_4HMOJSVr0W6pW5i7ifMbDitqhq_FTgEn0JNDW/s640/Collage.jpg" width="488"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Big and Happy PADE Family</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_856077544"></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As I am not as
verse with words as Sfurti is, I am copying her</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #7d181e;">Punit Dubey</span></a> "<i>Mr. Photographer</i>"</span><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 13.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.lifeiszany.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #7d181e;">Shrikant </span></a>"<i>Mr.Out of the box</i>"</span><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://stiryoursouls.blogspot.in/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #7d181e;">Poonam </span></a>"<i>Ms Creativity</i>"</span><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://throughbothmyeyes.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #7d181e;">Priyam </span></a>"<i>Yum posts</i>"</span><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://rachel-on-a-cloud.blogspot.in/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #7d181e;">Sini </span></a>"<i>The thinker</i>"</span></span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/08/the-month-that-was-july-2013-part-1-pade.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-9581828108649944792013-07-31T20:03:00.002+05:302014-07-18T16:00:43.656+05:30Rain Ride to Rajmachi with Inddiethumpers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rajmachi has been one eluding dream ride for me. Every time it had been
planned by the <a href="http://www.inddiethumpers.com/" target="_blank">Inddiethumpers</a>, the guys I ride with, for a reason or two - I couldn’t
make it. So, this time when it was planned on a Saturday night, I took no time
to confirm my attendance!</span><br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CO67Fw9Mcb3yfoUSZITa4vt-jVjsljSllLZswHe9x9jnZT1_7YPOK6duDV8MtNgGxOUMk9OYHM3Yn1JmPG3VMo9KbYLJ0wrbzlqfsbeKz9q_-YOCp5uATnagluDGoer2KTDm3C1KSTta/s1600/Rajmachi+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2CO67Fw9Mcb3yfoUSZITa4vt-jVjsljSllLZswHe9x9jnZT1_7YPOK6duDV8MtNgGxOUMk9OYHM3Yn1JmPG3VMo9KbYLJ0wrbzlqfsbeKz9q_-YOCp5uATnagluDGoer2KTDm3C1KSTta/s640/Rajmachi+map.jpg" height="524" width="640"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Map to Rajmachi</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rajmachi is a small village, some 15 km from Lonavala – a famous
tourist destination. It’s a well-known 15km easy trek. But, the real adventure
is to ride to the village, and so <b>Ride to Rajmachi </b>has always been a dream ride
for the Riders.</span><br>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/07/rain-ride-to-rajmachi-with.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-27521878345264962862013-07-30T23:01:00.000+05:302013-08-03T10:50:35.553+05:30Photo A Day Experiment (PADE) Day31 - Night<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And, as it comes to an end with an apt Theme: Night, I am publishing my attempts at Star Trail, these are not perfect but still.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Each star is dedicated to the participants of PADE and the biggest stars are obviously for <a href="http://juztamom.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Sfurti</a> and <a href="http://toraveabout.com/" target="_blank">Ritu</a>.</i> </span><br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This first pic was shot at <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/Zanskar" target="_blank">Padum, Zanskarr Valley</a>. It was my first attempt at Star Trail and clicked it with a 30 minutes of exposure.</span><br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWMHXnOzYfpyxK3IP5oxmnFsVjcEec_LdsIVoHbVtfBCGOTzdpjTf2TaC-v4MGxVkxB6nkiZLS3w6Ma8kFaSn8NAgOgmTepVxvAxyGgEzahf1A1JyHE0zAxAtta5Efsd304k-PD9TQ_je/s1600/DSC_0941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWMHXnOzYfpyxK3IP5oxmnFsVjcEec_LdsIVoHbVtfBCGOTzdpjTf2TaC-v4MGxVkxB6nkiZLS3w6Ma8kFaSn8NAgOgmTepVxvAxyGgEzahf1A1JyHE0zAxAtta5Efsd304k-PD9TQ_je/s640/DSC_0941.JPG" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Star Trails at Padum</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This second pic was shot at <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/06/ride-to-gadda-mania-lonar-2013.html" target="_blank">Lonar Crater</a>. Some 45 shots of 15 seconds</span><br>
</div><a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/07/photo-day-experiment-pade-day31-night.html#more">Read more »</a>Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-43156316369203472082013-07-30T19:24:00.001+05:302013-07-30T19:24:50.853+05:30Photo A Day Experiment (PADE) Day30 - Water<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After posting <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/2013/07/photo-day-experiment-pade-day29-vacation.html" target="_blank">Sunset at Arabian Sea</a>, Goa for yesterday's theme, I realised it could have been posted for today's theme - Water too. :/</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This pic was shot near Sonamarg when we were returning from Kargil to Srinagar. It was drizzling and I was lazy enough to set the tripod. It was a moderate energy stream and we thought to take a chance to click <i>the silky flow of water</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oleQU2KsRLiOZgg0hCwaMbYYmNcWJ3zx_LAw1SG8AD38rbPj5ntMl9utGnaZeG861sEs0qfzf16So3YFoUi5Ho8ifrilBWxs8ku5__1tkp8fD2r6dKi-jyd6roVXpqUeRhSYDGv6fbZY/s1600/DSC_0405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oleQU2KsRLiOZgg0hCwaMbYYmNcWJ3zx_LAw1SG8AD38rbPj5ntMl9utGnaZeG861sEs0qfzf16So3YFoUi5Ho8ifrilBWxs8ku5__1tkp8fD2r6dKi-jyd6roVXpqUeRhSYDGv6fbZY/s640/DSC_0405.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An attempt to click the silky flow of stream water</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This shot was taken by handheld camera at F/25 and 1/6sec exposure. A better background would have done wonders :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This picture post is an Entry to PADE-2013, a month long </span><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.zemanta.com/images-and-photos-in-your-blog-posts/" rel="zemantacom" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="blog images">Photo-blog</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> event. To know more and participate, click </span><a href="http://toraveabout.com/2013/07/01/photo-a-day-experiment-pade-day-1-alone/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> or </span><a href="http://juztamom.blogspot.in/2013/06/pade-day-1-alone.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. Check themes </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBN7_L8ySjQRK0gC9d8x_f9ZSSzJ0F0pZRcgNQcY1Rqjyoy4Vni8NGzMFuOt1ETKRnTtnUalBDcb8qFny7YhwZRFopypPRyQvdtWVBkEaHnH5GN2J19jGs9sChtakJNFW7mH-teg_JlNJ/s640/PADE+themes.jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. </span></span><br />
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-63350366494832753022013-07-29T23:19:00.002+05:302013-07-29T23:21:25.502+05:30Photo A Day Experiment (PADE) Day29 - Vacation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My idea of vacation is:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“<i>What I like doing best is Nothing</i>."</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How do you do Nothing</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">," asked Pooh after he had wondered for a long time.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<i>Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, 'What are you going to do, Christopher Robin?</i>' and you say, '<i>Oh, Nothing</i>,' and then you go and do it.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It means just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering</i>."</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<i>Oh!</i>" said Pooh.” </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Thanks <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1225592-winnie-the-pooh" target="_blank">Goodread</a> for the exact words of story)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love doing <i>Nothing </i>on Vacations, but end up doing a lot of things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWqCHvmmARkBCOg2b4nRWvzhyTsTDKbpINEFrWaq6aq1-q_GMcJ9Osfpky4SgpvBUG5mirCJy-UmLSK4ByErpJqcX4Xn3eu_6w5hDy1eJlb2pPfuPz9Kmhhqtrv4Rv8HDYhshf78IUz0k1/s1600/DSC_0740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWqCHvmmARkBCOg2b4nRWvzhyTsTDKbpINEFrWaq6aq1-q_GMcJ9Osfpky4SgpvBUG5mirCJy-UmLSK4ByErpJqcX4Xn3eu_6w5hDy1eJlb2pPfuPz9Kmhhqtrv4Rv8HDYhshf78IUz0k1/s640/DSC_0740.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sunset at Goa</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This picture post is an Entry to PADE-2013, a month long </span><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.zemanta.com/images-and-photos-in-your-blog-posts/" rel="zemantacom" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="blog images">Photo-blog</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> event. To know more and participate, click </span><a href="http://toraveabout.com/2013/07/01/photo-a-day-experiment-pade-day-1-alone/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> or </span><a href="http://juztamom.blogspot.in/2013/06/pade-day-1-alone.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. Check themes </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBN7_L8ySjQRK0gC9d8x_f9ZSSzJ0F0pZRcgNQcY1Rqjyoy4Vni8NGzMFuOt1ETKRnTtnUalBDcb8qFny7YhwZRFopypPRyQvdtWVBkEaHnH5GN2J19jGs9sChtakJNFW7mH-teg_JlNJ/s640/PADE+themes.jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. </span><br />
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-5764150770541958292013-07-28T22:52:00.001+05:302013-07-28T22:52:40.579+05:30Photo A Day Experiment (PADE) Day28 - Special<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not much thinking again, for this Special theme I am posting
a pic from my collection that first came to my mind reading the Theme.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Inspired by levitating self-portraits of a Japanese </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">photographer</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <a href="http://yowayowacamera.com/" rel="" target="_blank">Natsumi Hayashi</a>, I tried this picture with a friend at Rangdum, <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/Zanskar" target="_blank">Zanskar</a> Valley.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-HILNbW2yw/UG3hqA-zwuI/AAAAAAAAOnU/4OQK8f0OLTc/s1600/D2+Zanskar++%2528473%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-HILNbW2yw/UG3hqA-zwuI/AAAAAAAAOnU/4OQK8f0OLTc/s640/D2+Zanskar++%2528473%2529.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This picture post is an Entry to PADE-2013, a month long </span><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.zemanta.com/images-and-photos-in-your-blog-posts/" rel="zemantacom" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="blog images">Photo-blog</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> event. To know more and participate, click </span><a href="http://toraveabout.com/2013/07/01/photo-a-day-experiment-pade-day-1-alone/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> or </span><a href="http://juztamom.blogspot.in/2013/06/pade-day-1-alone.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. Check themes </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBN7_L8ySjQRK0gC9d8x_f9ZSSzJ0F0pZRcgNQcY1Rqjyoy4Vni8NGzMFuOt1ETKRnTtnUalBDcb8qFny7YhwZRFopypPRyQvdtWVBkEaHnH5GN2J19jGs9sChtakJNFW7mH-teg_JlNJ/s640/PADE+themes.jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. </span><br />
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-3400297588344932652013-07-27T11:30:00.000+05:302013-07-28T22:07:14.232+05:30Colors and Candy Priced Books with a Vision: A book in every child's hand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"</span>What will you like to have on your birthday?</span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>A book!</i> Few months back I got this reply from my 10 years old niece. I gifted
her Alice and Wonderland much to annoy her younger sister.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>It hasn’t got any pictures! Who reads these many words,</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>was her reaction to one of the Best children book ever
written.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now this story had everything, a cute girl, an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>out-of-this-world</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>set, extra ordinary league of
characters – complete wow and awe factor! But, where it failed my younger (<i>6yrs
old</i>) niece? Definitely, problem wasn’t with the story, but the book – it was
all just words, negligible cartoons and no color (<i>except the cover page</i>). This tells the story that though the kids like and devour
those stories which have creative characters that may bring a wow affect in the
story –<i> it’s not worth reading if it’s just words!</i> Not so sanely, but yes it
could be analogues to the fact that kids tend to eat a sandwich or a trendy<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>roti-roll</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>stuffed with spinach then the bare
spinach (<i>green and mushy!</i>)</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNmeQFfynPzmgox9O5IjbHKFS6utR-7o3_GIsLujoh11zkXYIboB_lCGnWYpG1UPpanqsQ7pAwFQ89zRndv_COB2kaB3hG4WWDtojvQLQ840o5hBf2pET7VhlpjwJC5DZuNolH-axGmC4/s1600/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNmeQFfynPzmgox9O5IjbHKFS6utR-7o3_GIsLujoh11zkXYIboB_lCGnWYpG1UPpanqsQ7pAwFQ89zRndv_COB2kaB3hG4WWDtojvQLQ840o5hBf2pET7VhlpjwJC5DZuNolH-axGmC4/s640/Picture1.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Listening
to <b>Rohini Nilekani</b>, <i>Founder chairperson of Pratham Books</i>, on <a href="http://www.ftideacaravan.com/">http://www.ftideacaravan.com/</a> I recalled the above told
story. It made me realize <i>as she presented her idea</i>, it’s not that kids don’t
want to read – it’s that they want it in an interesting flavour that can
attract them. Colors have always been kids’ favourite and characters drawn
as caricatures always invite them to voluntarily participate in the party of
learning. Their Concept of Story Cards worth Rs 2/- is revolutionary, it has got so
much potential to draw children, and the unprivileged ones too, to a fantasy
world of reading. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/BHqFGA78sEU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Suggestions</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I, as a traveler generally carry candies with me on my trips to
befriend with kids. <b>And, now I know that there is an option worth <i>just
2-candies </i>together which would rather sweeten the deal I want to do with
those kids</b>. With those story cards, I won’t just be getting close to the
community but will also be able to do a little bit of my duty towards society.
Similarly there are so many travelers for whom travelling is not just fun but
a lot more than it, who could be taken help of, or better be associated with,
expanding the horizon of Pratham and ultimately spreading the wisdom of
knowledge. In fact, these books at small souvenir shops will do wonders if the
regular tourists can be <i>taught</i> and roped in into the cause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An association with organisations like Library Without Borders and
NGOs working to set up Community Computer Centres at villages, this concept of
reaching out to the root level <i>readers</i> of society with Colorful Books
and also eBooks can do wonders!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last but not the least, a more Social presence (G+, Facebook, Twitter) will for sure help Rohini and team achieve the goal they have set! Best Wishes!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About Pratham</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I came to know about Pratham when I was planning Leh trip, with
that failed plan I forgot about it. Now thanks to <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=84" target="_blank">Indiblogger</a> and <a href="http://www.franklintempletonindia.com/" target="_blank">FranklinTempleton Investment</a> Idea Caravan initiative bringing us the videos from <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012</b></span>, I could learn more
about this<i> novel Cause of Spreading Knowledge with Story Books</i>!</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pratham is a <b>not-for-profit publisher</b> with a mission is to see a country where
every child wants to read, is able to read, and has something good to read, and
a vision to reach 200 million children in India, and to put '<i><b>a book in every
child's hand</b></i>'.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Till date, they have published
over 215 titles in English and 10 other Indian languages, i.e. more than 1500
books, most for less than Rs 25. They have printed over 8.5 million
books, over 10 million story cards and claim a readership of about 25 million. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">To know more about how Pratham
Books came into being and the Read India Movement, <a href="http://www.prathambooks.org/read-india-movement" target="_blank">click here</a>. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To support by buying books, <a href="http://store.prathambooks.org/" target="_blank">click here</a>.</span></span></div>
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Ghumakkar Punithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10684268427131085894noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602672408432582434.post-6493275641327681512013-07-27T00:44:00.004+05:302013-07-27T00:44:57.463+05:30Photo A Day Experiment (PADE) Day27 - Smile<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Months back I started posting Smiles through a series <a href="http://www.punitdubey.in/search/label/Smiley%20Saturdays" target="_blank">Smiley Saturdays</a>. So today I am publishing a collage of the pics (<i>few of them</i>) I posted as Smiley Saturday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJo_HP-1u7VmpcyX4QyxAxu1rb5xdHPq3gMnnUhPNtSBlk9Jw6lhy4Jkkep33SokcyoYk1kxUkEeMdA0AdZGR49K9i9ka_GtEdRgE2uiZFKzpZTkgglYdgjlmG3LzCv50SjdwSy5H3e4Mm/s1600/Watermarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJo_HP-1u7VmpcyX4QyxAxu1rb5xdHPq3gMnnUhPNtSBlk9Jw6lhy4Jkkep33SokcyoYk1kxUkEeMdA0AdZGR49K9i9ka_GtEdRgE2uiZFKzpZTkgglYdgjlmG3LzCv50SjdwSy5H3e4Mm/s640/Watermarked.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All of it :)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This picture post is an Entry to PADE-2013, a month long </span><a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.zemanta.com/images-and-photos-in-your-blog-posts/" rel="zemantacom" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="blog images">Photo-blog</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> event. To know more and participate, click </span><a href="http://toraveabout.com/2013/07/01/photo-a-day-experiment-pade-day-1-alone/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> or </span><a href="http://juztamom.blogspot.in/2013/06/pade-day-1-alone.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. Check themes </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBN7_L8ySjQRK0gC9d8x_f9ZSSzJ0F0pZRcgNQcY1Rqjyoy4Vni8NGzMFuOt1ETKRnTtnUalBDcb8qFny7YhwZRFopypPRyQvdtWVBkEaHnH5GN2J19jGs9sChtakJNFW7mH-teg_JlNJ/s640/PADE+themes.jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">. </span></span><br />
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