A trek to remember

I want to give a huge write up… my complete experience. It was a roller coaster ride and I don’t want to miss a moment of happiness. I just have one question; if I do a write-up for 10000+ words will anyone sue me…???

I still wonder how I made this trekking possible with my big tummy… but yeah, that was the truth. Skandagiri hills, 75km from Bangalore, one of the finest things to trek. I enjoyed a lot and I have had a fresh breath on the hill top. My soul, mind got fresh new thoughts after climbing for hours to reach the top.

We were 21 of us and started from majestic bus stop, Bangalore at 9 in the night and reached to Skandagiri hills at around 11.30am. It was good because of moonlight. The moon was in a little oval shape and the dim light from it was so pleasant to walk under. We started walking towards the hill top. People were crawling, talking, making funny sounds every now and then we take rest to make up ourself for the rest of the trekking.

We were walking through giant rocks, dark bushes but some how we had a torch light which helped us. Some times, you could see a steep way and some times rocky and bushy path way. Did not actually miss anything above!! We went out for gazing at the clear sky with thousands beautiful twinkling stars.. My friends were explaining to me the constellation. I was listening to them and trying to understand at one moment and at the same time I was just wondering about the next day.

What’s special about climbing the mountain/hill? There’s nothing special you can find here until you experience by yourself but few things I can say here

• Good exercise to your physical body
• You will get fresh thoughts in your mind and soul
• You will simply enjoy the beauty of nature even though you experience physical pain.

After reaching to hill top, we started eating buns, oranges, tea and what ever have had.

Rajesh was the one first initially brought sticks and stuff for bonfire, after some time I was able to bring some and added to it. You know, its very difficult to make fire on hill top because you might experience heavy cold breeze in the early morning, but some how we were able to do it and made crazy sounds and enjoyed few minutes..

Then we were waiting for the sun rise, sun became shy I think because of we waiting for his appearance without sleeping. After some time, his shyness gone away and he made his appearance and little bit hiding behind the dew like the young girls do hide behind their mother, but some how I was able to capture the beauty in him.

Another good thing you can notice on hill top is that tea shop. They provide tea, bread, omlet and bajji etc… skandagiri hills is a business opportunity too…!! I can see a little entrepreneur there selling a tea.

I can say there are about 200 people on hill top in the early morning as light came, I can see the crowds. You can even see a temple on the hill top(Don’t ask me about god..!!).

After some time, we started coming down and I was wondering that I have walked via these path way and bushes in the moon light without any fear. Walking back was not difficult in fact my pace increased or maybe that’s the way it is. I forgot to get some snaps… was dealing a lot with fatigue and recovery and enjoying the last trails.

All I had in my mind is to reach to (hill) top and experience the diverse mode of sun rise. That kind of confidence is what I got now.

Apocalypse of Indian Cricket Team

The loss to South Africa in Nagpur on Saturday exposed many frailties in the hosts' line-up. TOI lists a few problems and possible solutions that Team India can pay attention to if they want to feature in the business end of the tourney

Problem 1: No method in powerplays

In the two matches that India haven't won, against England in Bangalore (tied) and against South Africa in Nagpur (lost), India messed up with the batting powerplays big time. Against England, they could score just 32 runs for the loss of one wicket, while against South Africa, they lost four wickets for 30 runs. On both occasions, the batsmen were guilty of aiming for too high a score and ended up paying the penalty. A more circumspect approach will do the job.

Possible solution: The batsmen can ask themselves a simple question: Do we go hell for leather in the first 10 overs which are the mandatory powerplay overs? If the answer to that question is no, then the approach should change in the game against West Indies.

Problem 2: Faulty batting order?

Virat Kohli, who was India's most successful batsman in ODIs in 2010 and who scored a hundred in India's first match of the World Cup against Bangladesh, has been sacrificed at the cost of getting more runs. In the match against England, he batted at No. 7 as Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni batted higher. Against South Africa, too he batted at No. 7. Is he paying the price for his success?

Possible solution: Even in a powerplay scenario, Kohli at No. 4 is a safe bet as he is a very good stroke player and a powerful striker of the cricket ball. No. 4 is three spots too high for Pathan. Kohli can attack and in case there is a collapse, he can also graft and work the ball around for singles. He would have been an ideal man for the situation on Saturday.

Problem 3: Stubborn selection

R Ashwin and Sreesanth must be wondering what wrong have they done to not feature in the playing XI. India are struggling with spin-bowling back-up for Harbhajan and pace-bowling back-up for Zaheer.

Possible solution: There is no theory in the world that says you can't have two off-spinners in the playing XI. Ashwin is a man with plenty of variations and must get in as Piyush Chawla just hasn't looked the part. Ashish Nehra too hasn't been consistent post his injury problems and in the death overs, he tends to leak runs. Time for the captain to overlook Sreesanth's antics and give him a game.

Role of Science in INDIA

The strength of a nation is no longer determined merely by the might of its armies. It comes from the quality of its collective knowledge, the productivity of its working people, the creativity of its entrepreneurs and the dedication of its professional work force.

A country’s prosperity too is a function of the knowledge its people possess and acquire. Indeed, it has always been so. But, what has changed in the last few decades is the access to knowledge. We live in an era of greater equity and equality as far as the acquisition of knowledge is concerned.

In an increasingly globalized world and with the ease of modern communications, it is possible for researchers to work in multiple environments even as they stay stationed at one place. But the great merit in being located in one place for a reasonable length of time is that new generations of researchers can benefit from the intellectual leadership provided by talented people. And India surely needs such leadership in ample measure.

Many young persons today may think it is not exactly wise to leave the comfort of well funded institutions abroad to return home to work in India. The infrastructure our universities and research institutions provide may not be world class, though, some institutions in the private sector, do provide world class facilities but we need many such facilities all over the country.

But, having accepted all the inadequacies of India’s research infrastructure, if there are young men and women who are willing to work here and produce world class research despite all the constraints they may face, we must salute their wisdom, their grit and determination and their love for their country. Therefore, I join each one of you in saluting the distinguished researchers of today.

But researchers are not just servants who do the bidding of their paymasters. They are driven by curiosity and seek knowledge often for its own sake. The fundamental discoveries of physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and biology have come from this thirst for understanding rather than from any social compulsion.

I belong to a generation that worried about the links between science and society. Scientific temper, we believed, would help India make the transition from a traditional to a modern society. We saw the development of science as intrinsic to the advancement of modernism, pluralism and liberalism.

But, it is true that science has made strides even in societies that were neither modern nor liberal. It is true that the products of science have been put sometimes to illiberal uses. I sincerely believe we must guard against such tendencies, especially in our own blessed country.

Take modern developments in the bio-sciences for instance. We are now acquiring the capacity to manipulate the human genome. But we have yet not developed an ethical framework that defines red lines that we must not cross as we do this.

The question is whether researchers should step beyond their discipline and at least guide the social discourse on the use of scientific knowledge. Should they develop a code of conduct that defines the limits within which they will work on the application of their discoveries? Should there be a collegial process for deciding difficult cases? I leave these as questions because the very idea of ethics for science needs further discussion.

Kaddayavagi budhivantarige mathra..!! (Strictly for intelligents)

I am asking a question – is it possible to clean up the politics from the muck?? My answer is simple – NO..!! I know many will jump at me to call me "worse than a Jihadi" I believe politics in India cannot be cleaned up unless we all become clean. I know none of you wants to hear that a very significant percentage of people are corrupt. Like it or lump it, but it is a hard fact.For a moment let me consider some one has the magic wand and all politicians suddenly become clean and decide to clean the society. Can you imagine what will happen to millions of people of this Country whose aspiration and life style depend on ill gotten money?

Black money is an integral part of our economy. Some experts call it "Parallel Economy” because they believe the size of this is as big as our economy is. I personally believe we need to clean up our own houses first before talk about CLEANING UP THE DIRTY POLITICS. What will you call these dirty politicians? 1. They take away the food from the bowl of the poorest of the poor. Are they beggars?
2. They terrorize and kill the poor in the name of naxalism. Are they serial killers?
3. They loot national wealth worth trillions and keep in swiss bank. Are they looters?
4. They create communal riots. Are they terrorists?
What are they?
There is a saying that you get politicians and media you deserve. I believe firmly that this is TRUE.

I have some observations. People may agree or disagree but I think it is TRUE and hence I believe them. They are -


1. Those who scream about corruption often are not clean themselves. It is true for all sections of the Society.

2. Those who talk about Hinduism as a religion often do not practice principles of good “Karma”. Those who talk about "Dharma" are engaged in "Adharma".

3. People do not seem to understand that you have to be "honest" to demand honesty from others. Preachers often do not succeed because they do not practice.

I believe these rhetorics do not mean any thing. We are willing to bribe hence there are corrupt people. Politics has been dirty for a long time. It has not been exposed very often. Few instances are always discussed and quoted but some have been pushed under the carpet

Cleaning up can only start with self "cleansing". We all must adopt resolution - "We will not bribe, we will not accept bribe and we will object if others bribe or accept bribe "

How many will sign in and practice this. Otherwise it will remain as "rhetoric" and World will laugh at us... Can we not do some thing about it?

India is infamous for its corrupt politicians. Due to the disintegration or weakening of national parties, they have no other choice other than to support these corrupt among them. When I was young, the time when I did not have the voting, always wondered why people are voting for the corrupt. I thought the uneducated and illiterate are the majority and they are unaware of these facts and vote the corrupt politicians to the legislation. But when I grew up I realized the fact that in the fast growing economy of India most of the people are either educated or literate, and moreover the media has grown so fast that everyone is aware of all these dirty corruption. Then I wondered why these people are elected. Then most of the corporate media came with the fact that, the educated and people who got job, especially who works in corporate sector never vote. They say the reason as what is the use of voting all are corrupt. The uneducated who vote shown the same trend of voting the corrupt as they are unaware of the facts.
As Gandhiji said during freedom fight, “You should be the change you wish to see in this world”. But we want the change but will not work, current situation is like that. We blame other for voting, forgetting the fact we did not vote, so that the corrupt will not come to power. Not everyone is corrupt, there are a few who still holds some moral and political values. At least one will be there who is better than the corrupt candidate.
Another fact is, now the country India got the status of secular only in the constitution. Most of the political parties are playing the card of ‘vote in the name of religion and caste’. This has to be changed first. If one religion is appeased by a party, the rival party will be support another religion. Some feel they had been left out in all these canvassing and appeasement. These groups will finally form some radical group and so on the story continues.
The only way to change all these things, cast your vote next time. Blame, but work to stop this along with blaming. Vote for a change. Always think, ‘I am the change I wish to see in this world’, rather than to say or think, ‘he should be the change I wish to see in this world’.

WATER

Summers are here and the cities in India are already complaining about water shortage not to mention many villages which lack safe drinking water. In the list of 122 countries rated on quality of portable water, India ranks a lowly 120.Although India has 4% of the world’s water, studies show average availability is shrinking steadily. It is estimated that by 2020, India will become a water-stressed nation. Nearly 50% of villages still don’t have any source of protected drinking water.

According to 2001 census 68.2% households have access to safe drinking water. The department of drinking water supply estimates that 94% of rural habitations and 91% urban households have access to drinking water. But according to experts these figures are misleading simply because coverage refers to installed capacity and not actual supply.

The ground reality is that of the 1.42 million villages in India, 1,95,813 are affected by chemical contamination of water. The quality of ground water which accounts of more than 85% of domestic supply is a major problem in many areas as none of the rivers have water fit to drink.

37.7 million People –over 75% of who are children are afflicted by waterborne diseases every year. Overdependence on groundwater has brought in contaminants, fluoride being one of them. Nearly 66 million people in 20 states are at risk because of the excessive fluoride in water. While the permissible limit of fluoride in water is 1 mg per liter in states like Haryana it is as high as 48 mg in some places. Delhi water too has 32 mg. But the worst hits are Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Nearly 6 million children below 14 suffer from dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis.

Arsenic is the other big killer lurking in ground water putting at risk nearly 10 million people. The problem is acute in Murshidabad, Nadia, North and South 24 Paraganas, Malda and Vardhaman districts of West Bengal. The deeper aquifers in the entire Gangetic plains contain arsenic.

High nitrate content in water is another serious concern. Fertilizers, septic tanks, sewage tanks etc are the main sources of nitrate contamination. The groundwater in MP, UP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has shown traces of nitrates.

However it is bacteriological contamination which leads to diarrhea, cholera and hepatitis which is widespread in India. A bacteriological analysis of the water in Bangalore revealed 75% bore wells were contaminated. Iron; hardness and salinity are also a concern. Nearly 12,500 habitats have been affected by salinity. In Gujarat it is a major problem in coastal districts. Often babies die of dehydration and there are major fights in villages for fresh water. Some villages have seen 80% migration due to high salinity.

There is an urgent need to look for alternative sources of portable water in places where water quality has deteriorated sharply. Community based water quality monitoring guidelines should be encouraged. People should be encouraged to look at traditional methods of protecting water sources. Also in places where groundwater has arsenic or fluoride, surface water should be considered as an alternative.

Friends forever - A small introduction of our complex gang (in alphabetical order)....

BHARATHA:

He is a sheer masterpiece…Look at him; His Smartness would compel Mr. cupid to go for a facial in a parlor…and if I talk about his dressing sense, He simply dresses to kill...His passion for sports & his performance in them is just awesome (He is good in all sports particularly in world’s most favorite ones)…He is a wonderful friend, a proud possession for many. And He is a true Angry Young Man..(Forget Big B, Even Nana Patekar would go ashes...).He is the finest BLEND of many beautiful talents..(Hey Cuties!! taste him once and the hangover will last life long.)

LIKES: Games and Girls…!!!

MAHESHA:

Pinto, as we always called him; he is super amazing friend who'll always be there for you. Someone who standby when u needs him, whom u can rely upon, most altruistic person I ever came across with such a flamboyant style.... known 4 his modesty n humbleness. He’s extremely sensitive and funny too.. there’re a million ppl who "love" u the way u r... You are a mentor for me....every time I ask anything u very patiently listen and has the solution of my all problems...thank for being so lovely to me..

LIKES: Bikes

PRABHU:

Finally I am writing it after a long delay to say something about him, I had to scratch my head a lot. A very nice human who nurtures relations, they mean a lot to him and he is very loyal to them. Be it any, as far as I have analyzed. Lots of GF’s. He is a person you can rely anytime. Dedicated to his work. Now I move to other side of Prabhu, in spite of all the toughness he wears and speaks, he hides a very sentimental and “Bhavuk” human in him somewhere deep inside. He bluffs this to many but I guess all his near and dear ones realize it.

LIKES: Long drive and CD’s

PRADEEP:

PDP, a poet, Though I had not enough time to spend with him but a lot of things to share about him he is true example of patience and hardworking...one who never was demotivated or discouraged...always keep his door to provide help and understand true meaning of life....wishes him a very wonderful, super, duper, zabardast n ekdum mast n dhinchak life bole to ekdum jhakkas and cool life...take special care..

LKES: Studies

PREM:

I know him for 8 years.. Tab se lekar aaj tak we are best friend and share every thing n thoughts with each other. During this whole period I have found that this person is very cool & helping in nature for everyone by heart. Hardworking, never give up attitude. I never forget those days of job hunting which thought lots of lesson for that age..!! He is always eager to learn new things. So whenever I m in any type of problem I call him first. These qualities make him different from others.

LIKES: Kannada movies

RAGHAVENDRA. DN:

A very good friend of mine

He will help u out at the time of quandary (show the right path)

He marks his presence where ever he goes

he is dynamic and full of life, he will never give up

He is as thin as a bamboo stick. Well he is seriously a great friend to be treasured and am glad that we r friends

LIKES: Hard work and bisi bele bath

RAGHU (JIMMY):

I’m really loving to write a testimonial for a dude person with whom I have spent the most special years of my college life.. Oh I really miss those days.. I appreciate you’re your simplicity, Loving and caring nature and your patience. Meri dua hai ki tu life main bahut aage jaaye dost. Will miss u always as my sweet heart (don’t take it otherwise). I know I tease u much every time. But then also whenever I got into trouble u helped me.... The sad part of him nowadays is, he stopped telling “nonsense” , which was his lexis in college..!!

LIKES: Movies and Gobi chilli..!!

RATAN;

Be cautious, his enthusiasm is contagious... I adore his zeal to venture into something unknown...a pleasure to discuss on any topic in the world. I feel he really practices involvement with ease, as he know to remain both passionate and dispassionate.. He has everything in him to be the FUNDOO... In-depth desire to do welfare to complex gang. . I have seen immense changes in him and thus we became what they call ‘friends’.

LIKES: Travelling.

SHABBI:

He is always hyperactive...like to do mischief’s... But this is not the true part of his personality... he is very very honest, soft hearted, he is very intelligent guy, don't lose tempered easily..He keeps u smiling with his mischief...u will always find him lots of vigor....and above all he is very honest towards his well wishers..

LIKES: Body building.

SUSHMA:

Theirs loads.. if I start to tell about this girl..

let me tell u...... she is really cool....

she is someone whom u would love to hangout with all day..

Very lively and one of the most friendly girls around....

her attitude, her sense of humor is soooo catching.. That you will never find her moving alone, anywhere any time..

The one more striking quality in her is how she handles things.. She is ever cool.. Very helping and a real good friend.

LIKES: Cooking (Burnt cakes)

VIDYA:

A born actress in our group, some of my friends used to tease her as “Chindodi leela”. Jokes apart, she is very cool, never tempered, social, enthusiastic and buoyant. Like to face challenges, always wanted to be rooted in life. Fantastic work life balance. Good luck for all the future endeavors.

LIKES: Acting

kodachadri trekking

DAY 1

Almost the day was getting ended; we started our voyage into the place where even sun rays refuses to fall most of the time. Total members were 15, total obstacles were 303 (in the same ratio of kauravas and pandavas) and the total confidence level was infinity.

It was almost 4 in the evening; the contract jeep dropped us in the middle of the jungle leaving us to carry on our journey. The hindrance started hiding behind each other after seeing our poise and enthusiasm.

We continued our expedition step by step, hitting all the stones which came across. The moment we finished our half way mark, Surya deva started showing his value by finishing his duty. But the lights which were stored in our eyes from past few days helped in moving forward, these were equally supported by the torches which we decided to carry in the last minute. Slipped, slide, glide, fall, skid, slewed, swerved but we never stopped.

Finally we reached top with the same zeal we had when we started, in fact bit more. We congratulated each other on our success without knowing the fact that real mission is waiting for us on the next day…

DAY 2

Part 1

It was 6 in the morning; most of us were in the hunger of exploring more places. On the same rhythm, we started our journey for another 2 kms. For all the eyes which were biased to green color, it was a surprise out there since the whole area was covered with the fog. Since nothing was visible other than dew, we started surrendering ourselves to 10 and 12 megapixel cameras. But the best part with the dew was it didn’t make us to wait for long time, got cleared leaving behind the eye-catching sight beneath. Every inch of that vista was captured both in our eyes and cameras.

Part 2

After photo session and breakfast, we started with the most adventurous trekking of our life. 5 kms underneath was a waterfall which was our target, the journey was 10 times tougher than what we had thought, still nobody stopped, nobody hindered, nobody thwart. The kind of an adventure we made to reach the cascade would easily dwarf any other achievements. The waterfalls which was not that great though, gave a new experience to all of us who were comfortable with easy going Bangalore life, gave a much needed break to most of us.

One person who I will like to thank is a guide, Nagbhushan. A boy who knew our potential and incessantly supported in each step of ours.

"There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a place. A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken at the right tempo. Even a bicycle goes too fast."