My Trip to Gokarna - A Weekend Getaway

Even before we started off our trip to Gokarna, we almost cancelled it. Well one of our friends got caught up at work. He almost scared me when he said , “ You guys go ahead I might have to skip the trip…..” I mean What ??!!!? Although he smartly finished the work and joined us, but I decided something at that moment – ‘Job is just a part of your life, it should never become your life ‘

Bro fir se nah kriyo aise kaam !!!

We left for Bus stop on Friday evening directly from office by 7pm. Now we had solid 2.5 hrs to reach the bus stop. Yes yes, bus stop is within the Bangalore city only, remember here we are talking about Bangalore traffic. So somehow we are able to reach Bus stop on time ( read 9:30 pm). I thought finding the bus would not be a big deal, but No No I was very wrong. For next 15-20 mins we kept looking for our bus, I almost thought my trip to Gokarna stands cancelled. Now like some 2-3 mins before the departure we got our bus. Bus was comfortable. I mean real comfortable. Next 10-11 hrs in AC sleeper went pretty smooth. Although I didn’t like my seat but lets not talk about it.  So I would recommend if you plan to visit Gokarna from Bangalore – take a KSRTC Bus. You will easily get seats if you book say 7-10 days in advance.

So Gokarna basically means Cow’s Ears. Literally you will see a lot of cows there. It is a holy place and if you plan to visit along with your family. Stop reading this post further because it won’t be of any help to you. Moving ahead, a small introduction on Gokarna. It is famous for temples and its beaches. You guessed it right we went for the later. There are basically 5 beaches – one after another along the west coast separated by small hills – Gokarna beach, Kudle beach, Om beach, Paradise beach and Half- moon beach.

We were told Om beach is pretty famous for locals and is crowded mostly on weekends. Gokaran beach is more of a religious beach meant for taking dips in the Arabian Sea before heading to temples.  So our next question was where do Tourist go ???   ‘Kudle Beach‘. As you get out of the bus stop, ask for the way to Kudle beach. It is some 15 mins walk, in case you don’t like to walk – you will get autos as well. Kudle beach has lots of Shacks along the beach, so don’t bother looking for accommodation in the Gokarna Town. Shacks are pretty decent, you may not be able to book those online but on the spot you will get accommodation on the beach. Atleast we got the shacks very easily, may be coz it was just the start of the season. (Oct – Mar is the season)

Our Shack at the Kudle Beach

Kudle beach is very beautiful and less crowded. The view was mesmerizing, Sun setting down from behind the clouds – its slight reflection on the Sea below. You could see the whole of sea in a single frame. I kept looking at the horizon, my eyes were glued to that skyline where sky met the sea. I could probably sit there for eternity. One more thing I like about the beaches is taking a walk along the beach – water kissing your feet. Although I would have loved to take that walk with someone special. May be next time. 

I immersed myself in this view

Well some more information for first timers – alcohol is not allowed on the beach but Beer is served on Shacks along the beach. Also one more thing to keep in mind, don’t order Indian Sabzi , Roti there. The mistake, we made. Go for sandwich, burgers, pancakes, pastas etc. They are fulfilling as well as tasty.

After a tiring but fun session in the water, we headed back to our rooms. The one thing I hate about beaches is the sand that gets inside your clothes. So it took us some time to clean up and deal with our dirty clothes. We headed back to the grab some dinner. This time we didn’t repeat the same mistake. We ordered some nice sandwiches, rolls, stuffed Parotas.( ya that’s what it said) . The sea was beautiful in Moon light. We decided to go into the waters again. But to our surprise the sea receded back, some good half a kilometer. With not much of light around, walking into the sea, it was pretty scary. It is then we decided of a business plan, you see MBA grads ;-) It is called Chandra Namaskaar (well my friends restrained me from giving out more details).

Well since there was nothing much happening on the beach at night, we headed back to our rooms. Although I heard in the peak season, beaches in Gokarna are lot more lively. We jumped inside the Mosquito nets and started playing cards. Well you read it correctly, mosquito nets. It reminds me of my childhood, some 17-18 yrs back -sleeping in those nets with my grandparents. Memories Aahaan -  Good old memories !! I loved playing cards – we played a special game called Higanna – it is a Sri Lankan game.

The next morning, we decided to explore other beaches, but first we wanted to have some breakfast. Beach side, it was so pleasing to eyes that we ended up staying at that same beach (Kudle) for rest of the day. This day was dedicated to Photography. All four of us took turns to try our hands at photography. Well the other three are pro at it, I was the one learning the skills. I did learn some new terms – Shutter speed, noise, concept of wide lens etc.  It was a good start for me. Below are few pictures I took.

Increasing the shutter speed !!!

Before leaving for bus stop, we went to a hill top.I shall not describe the view, see for yourself in the pictures below. You can’t stop yourself from going there.

 

View from Hill Top

Clouds approaching us on the hill

This is the place where we plan to build our Hotel (Environment friendly)

Sun's reflection on the Arabian Sea

Subho at his best

I simply Love this picture

i told you this picture is worth framing it

Budget : Travel and accommodation(one night) per person will not cost more than Rs2500.

Food is tasty and reasonable on beach side.

It is a good weekend get away from Bangalore.

On our next trip to Gokarna, we plan to cover the Paradise and Half Moon Beach. Hopefully few of our friends who couldn't make it, may join us next time. :-) 

A Weekend Well Spent - Happy Weekend

Well its been a while since i wrote my last blog entry. Lately, i was wondering how to make my Weekends Happy??? Since i moved to Bangalore, most of my weekends were spent in household chores and rest of the time sleeping. I became lazy.....very lazy and i didn't like it.

So what was so different this weekend. Well to start with i had hell of a time on Friday night @Happy Brew Kormangala. Trust me it is one of the good places to be on Friday nights if you love Bollywood music and stuff (rest is self explanatory) ;-)

After friday night, i wanted something kick-ass to start my Saturday. Guess what i bumped into 'Sully' Movie. That was it, precisely thats what i wanted desperately.

Chesley Sullenberger says, "I've had 40 years in the air but in the end, I'm going to be judged by 208 seconds. "



Yes the world is so cruel, you will be judged for one bad day at work. All the amount of time u spent delivering projects on time goes under the carpet. Well for me the message was clear - Bro the World is ruthless, strive for excellence and achieve perfection !!!

I was all pumped up and the next logical destination for me was GYM. One of the best workouts in a while. I was pumping iron like this guy below (not literally though with lesser weights :-P) All the credit goes to my flatmate for this workout session ;-)

And then to see your team thrash the so called Champions of England 4-1.

Its was magical see Manchester United play with such fluidity and control. I wish Rooney and Fellani are benched for future games as well. This combination is working fine, more than fine actually.Well see Paul Labile Pogba score was priceless. i was waiting for this moment for a long time.

After a fun filled Saturday, i wanted to relax and chill out, and what better place then to visit your old friend. This was only the third time we met in the past 8 years (after we left school) but it never felt that way. We could talk endlessly, and the time just flew by. What was left was smiles all around. :-)

My definition of Happy Weekend may be skewed, but i was Happy on a weekend after a long -2 time. I will remember it for quite some time.

Who is Malala Yousafzai ???

I got to know who is Malala,when she was shot in the head by a Taliban. But I got to know who the Real Malala is only after reading this book.

You want to know the Real Malala.....stay with me on this....and read this post till end.

I wonder, how would a 12-13 yrs old Me respond if I am told no need to go to school. Sit in home and play. May be I would jump in excitement. But not Malala. She raised voice against Taliban, went on air publicly fighting for her right to Education. I mean a 12-13yrs old kid - no way. Right. But she did that. I wonder how. After I read this book I think one of  the major motivations behind her was her father. Since childhood she saw her father talk about the importance of education in life. It was so much ingrained into her mind & soul that a kid was ready to fight the Talibans over her right to go to school.

Now imagine, if you are being awarded by President of the Nation, a kid would go nicely dressed up, excited to be on TV and enthusiastic about the award. But Malala is different, she prepared a list of demands she wanted to put in front the govt officials. Damn. She is no ordinary child.

When she knew she was the target by Talibans, I don't know from where she got the courage to go around in public. It is such an irony that the day she was shot, she was returning from school after giving an exam and the last thoughts of hers before the bullet struck her skull were....what she has to revise for the next exam. "Education!!!" Damn !! She only wanted to study in peace.

The strangest thing is that Taliban later issued a statement that she was shot because she preached Secularism and for calling Obama one of her favourite Politician. As far as I know Malala didn't speak about Secularism , so I assume Taliban have a skewed understanding of Secularism. She was  all out support for Education and Taliban didn't even had guts to openly claim the real reason for the attack.

This girl never stops surprising me. When she regains consciousness in Birmingham, her initial thoughts were that I don't have money for such expensive hospital and she plans to work to earn money and call her parents back home. You are an inspiration for millions on how to fight the battles in life.

Read the book to know more about her Courage, determination & Conviction. For me I have become her fan for life and want to follow her work. I also think that someday she will go back home - Swat Valley - Pakistan. I only pray and wish that she achieves what she wants to - Peaceful Education!!!

Why should You read this book – ‘Lean In’ by Sheryl Sandberg

Before I read this book, I had my beliefs and stereotypes in life, which I believe now as false and I am glad this book helped me change those beliefs. I believed I had a progressive ideology but NO NO, I was wrong about myself. To start with when my friend suggested me this book, I was like book by a women talking about her ups & downs in corporate world is no good read for me anyway.  What will I learn from her. Then few weeks back I stumbled across the trailer of a Bollywood movie “ Ki & Ka”. It shows a women taking up the role of sole breadwinner for the family and the guy taking up full time job of housewife (see I couldn't find a gender neutral word). Trust me I didn’t like the feel of the trailer – it pinched me hard on the so-called ‘Male Ego’. We are raised since childhood with certain social norms and I was not ready to accept this role reversal. But now I am eager to watch this movie, I simply understand the issue to the core.

The day I started reading this book, I came across a quote on Facebook which said, “ Men are impressed by the looks of the women and women by what they hear men speak……” See the stereotyping here.  I have a friend of mine who is fighting off her parents so that she can pursue her career but her parents don’t give a damn about her career. Their only aim in life is to get her married off. I don’t blame the parents; it is the social pressure and unquestioned norms of society. Now imagine her, even before entering the corporate world which is full of struggle she is fighting the battle with those who are supposed to be her support system. Well there are many more examples like this which reinforces the fact that there is a long way to go for Equality to prevail in the society. It needs much more than just educating our daughters. And Men and Women need to take their share of responsibility to achieve this.

This book has raised lot of issues that women face in corporate world and how to tackle them. But I will not delve into that  and would rather recommend all females to read this book themselves. It is a must for them. What I want to talk about is what can men do to make this World a Gender-Neutral Equal Society. Rather I would say why should men read this book???

 There were some clear take aways for anybody who is entering the corporate world.

1. Always have two fold plans – Long term dream and 18 months plan. For the 18 months plan, keep a professional target for yourself/your team and keep a personal target like new skill to learn or XYZ fear to overcome.
2. Whenever you wana make a switch – look for Rocket ships, that have growth potential. When Sandberg got to choose she switched to Google in 2001 (way before it was known to public). And if you can’t find a Rocket ship, then look for teams/projects in your company that will act as rocket ships.
3. As far as looking for a Mentor in Corporate world, she says Don’t look for mentors. Simply excel at what you do and Mentors will see their protégés in you. And many more snippets of tips here and there.

 Moving ahead, apart from the take aways, I came across certain startling observations about women at workplace. Some of them are as follows.

1. Women seldom seek leadership roles in workplace compared to men.
2. Whenever somebody praise them for any accomplishment, they feel embarrassed, undeserved and guilty.
3. More successful a women is, less likable she becomes among her peers.  I remember when girls used to be rank holders in my class, people around me used to say no play only study why will she not get marks, it is easy for her.  Our society doesn’t believe in giving value to the merit when it comes to girls.
4. Sandberg observes that years before a female gets pregnant, she subconsciously takes decisions at workplace to factor-in the baby. She will stop taking major responsibilities years before. Now imagine, what kind of setback it is for females, how can then one expects them to stand as equals at the workplace??

Further there is a chapter on Role of Husband. Sandberg claims that women behave as maternal gatekeepers and not let husbands take up household responsibilities. Then she talks about other  things that Men should do at home, remind me to read this chapter when I about to get married – not now for sure J However, there is pertinent question in my mind – Women have come a long way at workplace, but has Men progressed at the same pace at home ???? ( have they taken up enough responsibilities at home to let women excel at work???). It is easy to say I would love to have working wife as my partner but it is difficult to be this “ Husband” to that working wife !!!

I need men and women both to think over and change certain  social biases today. Whenever a lady gets a promotion, we give credit to everything else ( u know what I mean), except the merit of the candidate. We need to remove “Gender” from our conversations. I shouldn’t say this book is written by Female COO of Facebook rather Sheryl Sandberg COO, Facebook.

If we are planning to work towards Equality, then a women needs to have a supportive Employer, supportive Colleagues and supportive Partner ( to share the family responsibilities). The ideal world would be- ‘ Half of the institutions run by women and half of the homes run by Men’. I know there is a long way to go there, but all of us need to ponder on these points/issues to make this world a better place to live in.

P.S> I would like to thank my friend who recommended this book to me. I would like to give credit to her as well for the change of beliefs I had after reading this book. J

The Road trip to Lansdowne

Date : Feb 27th to 29th 2016

Me along with two of my  friends started our Journey from Roorkee Saturday early morning.  Red bus ( local bus) we took at 6 from Roorkee and by 8am we were in Rishikesh. We planned to take this 150Kms journey to Lansdowne by bikes. Sardaar ji is famous for renting bikes in there. We reached the shop well before the Bohni time but still it took us 3 hrs to finally rent bikes and start our Journey. BTW in the meantime I had breakfast, obv I can't stand empty stomach u know me guys. Bread omelette - aunty was very sweet.

Waiting outside Jumping Heights

Started our journey towards Lansdowne

My friend wanted to experience Bunngy Jumping but with 3 hrs delay at Sardarji meant we had to postpone our Jumping Heights adventure to Sunday. Now we headed for Lansdowne by 12 noon. I don't know how but we took the road not taken !!! These are the deadliest mountain roads with few remote villages Enroute. Trust me small Kankar can be as deadly as a rushing truck towards you. Yes you guessed it right, on the lean curvy roads bikes slipped a few times. With few snack breaks enroute we reached Lansdowne by 5pm. The place is not famous for much of site seeing, its the journey it is famous for.

Maggi break enroute

Tea break

Avengers and the Bikers

There are two major tourist attractions - Artificial Lake and Tip Top Point ( customary sun set point @ every hill station ). But we were too tired and sleep deprived to roam around. After checking In @Windor Cottage hotel, we directly went to market to have some food and rushed back to hotel. Obviously who would want to miss Ind vs Pak T-20. Chilling out at a hill station and watching the match with buddies, what else you want in life.

In the morning we got up and as planned we had to leave for Jumping Heights for Bungy Jumping. But none of us wanted to move our asses. We wanted to chill out and lie down, that's it. So we decided to return to Rishikesh and stay the night there. We checked out of Lansdowne by 12noon. But this time we took the road most travelled - smooth and fast. It was a memorable ride back coz of the conversation I had with my friend. In 125Kms back we discussed - business, friends, family, philosophy, past life changing decisions and what not. However, there was a small glitch while returning, we lost sight of other bike and ended up in Rajaji National Park. Well I was the Navigator on the trip so I take the blame for the glitch. Anyway finally we reached Rishikesh by 5pm. We checked In at a hotel near Laxman Julla.

Where Mishra got into the Ganges and played with fishes

Tip-Top Point @Lansdowne

We decided to go ahead with what we planned I.e. firangi toota spotting and lying besides the Ganga bank. It is one of the best experiences for me on the trip. Soothing feeling, blowing wind and friends company. And by the time I returned to hotel after appreciating the firangi beauty, my friend made me realise why is that we Indians by default like 80% of the foreign girls we encounter. Well since then things have been screwed up in mind now, I no more able to appreciate a Firangan :-P. 

So after postponing twice finally on Monday morning we left for Bungy Jumping in the morning @ 11.  But how can a road trip be complete without bikes creating problems. Bike chain got off twice. But we had our mechanic with us ;-). At last we reached Jumping Heights by 12:30.  Among us, only one wanted to challenge his fear of heights. Another friend of mine was not in an adventurous mood and as far as I am concerned damn I am damn scared of free fall. I can't even take a jump in the swimming pool damn it. So I was nor ready to challenge my fear. My friend was a bit  nervous going into this Bungy Jumping but when he actually took it, he was pretty chilled out. Standing at 83metres and smiling, it takes a lot of guts. He overcomed his fear with a BIG Smile on his face.

Before the Jump- the
Nervous look

After the Jump - the ecstatic  feeling

So before i end it here, i want to list down my top 3 moments of the trip -

1. Delicious Lotus Maggi on our return to Rishikesh.

2. Conversation i had with Subhanshu on the bike.

3. Lying down on the bank of Ganges and feeling the flowing river

P.S>  We missed our other friends who couldn't make it to the trip. Hopefully we make a trip together soon

Road trip from South to North Andaman (Diglipur)

We planned to visit Diglipur. The journey was via the Jarawa Tribes forest

To ensure that tourist don't disturb the tribal life, the gates to the forest are opened on specific 
time periods only. So we had to reach the check post by 9am and prepare permit for our passage.

We reached an hour before, ie. By 8am. Fortunately, there was breakfast facilities at the check
post. We had tummy full food and guess what my fav breakfast - Idili Vada. Yummy. There are 
atleast 50-60 vehicles Lined Up right now. As We are waitIng for the Check post to open, I am 
writing my blog and Dad is chit chatting with fellow tourists coz he luvs to talk. ;-)

I am back !!!

When we left the first check post, two police vehicles one at the starting and another at the end 
followed us, just like a VIP Convoy. Nobody is allowed to take pictures in that 50km stretch of 
Jarawa Forest. Plz don't dare act smart, Coz last week a Bengali family was caught and hefty fine 
was charged. And it was a Jarawa tribal who caught this Bengali taking pictures. Well it took us 
around 1.5 hrs to cover the Jarawa stretch and trust me we were dying to get a glimpse of a Jarawa 
tribal but we were completely fallen out of luck. It was as if I was on a Tirupati Yatra and i was 
fighting in the queue to get a glimpse of Venkateshwara.

As the stretch ended, there was a dead end. There was a Ferry waiting and it was supposed to take 
us along with our vehicle to the other side of the bank. There is this stream of Andaman Sea 
flowing East - West known as ****###.(well I tried looking up in google but couldn’t figure out!) 
When we reached the other bank, before moving ahead towards our destination- Diglipur, We 
wanted to visit a Limestone cave.

Fresh deposits of Limestone

Cave Pillars - when stalactites and stalagmites meet
together

It is in the Barahtang district Of Middle Andaman. The way to caves is via 30mins sea (motor boat)
 and 15mins Trek. Those are one hell of caves, beautiful and fresh deposits of Limestone. At that 
movement, i could recall all the geography studies related to Karat topography (Limestone 
formations). We returned from the caves, had lunch and then continued our journey towards 
Diglipur. Its a 5 Hrs drive from Baratang. But there is another break in the ATR(Great Andaman 
Trunk Road –NH 223) where again there is a Ferry service. As i wait for my Vehicle to get
onboard the ferry, i am penning down my thoughts. :-D

On our way to Limestone Caves

I am back Again !!!

I reached hotel in Diglipur at 8:30pm. Had my fav Prawns for dinner. Heading to bed. Hopefully 
tommrow’s day is full of surprises. I am told, some interesting places to visit !!!

DAY : 2


Morning morning, fresh air and no sunshine yet. That Is unusual in Andaman at 6:30am. It was 
time to visit places in Diglipur. The first stop was Mud Volcanoes. No no don’t run your imagi-
nation wild, these are small volcano holes with grey mud coming out of it. It is a 20mins trek 
up the hill. One gets to see 4-5 small and big volcanoes. It is worth the trek.

Fresh and Hot Mud coming out of the Volcano

Trekking to Mud Volcanoes

Then we halted next at a Beach which is famous for Turtiles. But don’t bother to visit this beach. 
It is complete waste of time. It is as ordinary as any other beach and given low tide when we 
visited the beach we couldn't get into the waters either. As you can see below what was I doing 
on this damn beach

Ross & Smith Islands

Now the last tourist attraction left in Diglipur is Ross and Smith Islands. It is famous for a particular reason. When it is high tide, both Islands look separate and when it is low tide, it looks as a single island one can walk from Ross
Island to Smith island. However, there is a small twist in the tale.The boats carrying the “ Tourists”are under maintenance and only 
‘One’ single boat is carrying “Guests”to & fro. So basically there is a big queue of people waiting to get into the boat including me. 
Its mid day here in Andaman, i can see twin islands from far away and now keeping fingers
 crossed hoping to get the ticket to visit the twin islands.

Day 3:

Well I am back again for the last time !!!

We had worst luck yesterday, couldn't get the permit for twin Islands - the person just in front of 
me got the permit. Nevertheless I didn't push for more coz it would mean risking life in the return 
journey via boat, as there won’t be much natural light to navigate in the Sea. Anyway, new day it 
was our return journey from Diglipur to Portblair. We left hotel in the morning at 7:30. On the way 
had breakfast at Mayabandar, no big hotels but good food at road side dhabha. And on our return 
journey via the Jarawa forest I finally got to see two Jarawa tribes. Sigh!!! My trip is a success.

Jarawa Tribes look like this !!!

Overall, it was a wonderful road trip across the Andaman Islands. If you have time, I suggest you
 make this trip.

P.S. I didn't take the picture of the Jarawas, Above picture is Google uploaded one ;-)