Korigad Trek

Date – Sunday, September 30, 2007
Place – Korigad Fort, Lonavala
Group – Shaleen, Tarun, Hunny and I (All first benchers of D-Section)
Mode of commution – Train and Local Buses
Expenditure per head – 200 /-

Korigad - Korigad is a small yet steep hill. Shivaji had built a fort on top of it. There are 2 natural lakes on the top of the hill, couple of Buddhist Caves and Ganesha Temple. Sahara’s Amby Valley is visible from the top. Walking on the path on the edge of the hill can be thrilling and frightening.

Background
Our First Tri-mister MBA Exams got over. It was quite hectic over last 2 weeks with 1 exam every day. Don’t want to comment about how I performed in them; don’t even want to think about it. Before the next tri-mister begins there is a long gap of 3 days. So it was quite appropriate to go to a natural/scenic place like Lonavala. I had gone there recently in August with my parents when they had come here. Since I was the only person in the group who had visited that place earlier, the trip planning was left to me. I had seen Bushi Dam, Tiger Waterfalls, Valvan Dam, Baaje Kaves, Lonavala Lake, Lion Point and INS Shivaji at Lonavala. We saw Rajamachi Point and Duke’s nose at Khandala. But all of those places were seen superficially without getting too involved in any particular place. This time since I was going with my class mates, I wanted it to be more adventurous so planned for some trekking. On searching in the internet, 2 options were available i.e. Kune Waterfalls and Korigad. Since this is in a rainy season, I thought it will be very slippery and dangerous to get down to waterfalls and decided to go to Korigad.

Traveling frustrations
Shaleen came to my hostel sharp at 6.15 and gave me a missed call from outside. I must really appreciate his punctuality this time as it was so early in the morning. Tarun and his roomy Hunny were to meet us at Dadar to catch 7.20 a.m. train. They too did make it before time. But Banker bhai Gandharv Kumar couldn’t make it before 7.20 and had to be left out.

Train was quite crowded and we barely managed to catch our seats. For about 2 hours of travel there was no trace of greenery, only slums, drainages, concrete structures and people everywhere. I was sitting in the Aisle seat. Meanwhile we rather they got into conversation. As always, I was listening most of the times instead of talking. I am just being euphemistic here; frankly I couldn’t understand what they were talking about ;-) My Hindi has improved a lot since coming to Mumbai but not good enough to understand when spoken fast i.e. naturally. They were also making fun of me linking with the girl that I like in the class. So, in this case at least I had to act as if I did not understand!

After that Greenery started, this time the views were blocked by other passengers who were standing. From whatever I could see, I could sense that scenery around was beautiful. Hills, forests, lakes, rivers, valleys, paddy fields, huts and everything added to beauty. I have been looking for every opportunity to visit places with natural beauty but this was unique and special. Last one hour went off so fast and suddenly train reached Khandala station. Next station is Lonavala, where we got down at 10.20. From there we had to walk for 15 minutes to State Transport Bus Stand. Buses start to Peth-Shahpur village at 9.15. When we reached the bus stand, the bus had just left at 10.30 and next bus is at 12.30. Hard luck! It is easy to look back and rue the little time wasted but it was just unfortunate. Next option is to take a private Jeap or Tempo to the village. The tempo guy doesn’t follow any timing, he goes only when he gets 20 passengers. We were the first 4 passengers ;-( Sensing that we are in a hurry, he offered us to take us right away for 200/-. We didn’t agree as we thought we could soon get required no of people, but that didn’t happen. We were left waiting and suffocating inside the tempo for 1 hour before it finally started. I was hoping against hope that some Public Bus comes there and all the passengers in the tempo just get down and board the bus.

The road to the village passed through tourist locations like Lonavala Lake, Bushi Dam, Tiger Waterfalls, and Lion View Point. Hope to see them when we come back after trekking. We reached the village at 12.30, packed some food stuff and water. Found that the bus timings to return to Lonavala are at 3 and 4 p.m.

Place and the Trek
Direction and path to go was obvious as the hill was right in front. I would expect any hill to be like a pyramid, broad at bottom and pointed at the top. But this was different; it was like a prism, same thickness both at top and bottom. At the trek’s starting point there is a bore-well, we filled our water bottles here. The path initially is flat, later there are easy steps to reach the top. Trekking was quite easy. Midway through the climb, there is Amby Valley View Point, Buddhist Cave and Ganesha Temple. There are more caves as we go along. Each of those caves has a water tank, used for rain-water harvesting by the Buddhists.

We soon reached the top and found 2 natural lakes adjacent to each other. Sat in between them and had our lunch. I sincerely didn’t want to throw the plastic covers and bottles there. I carried it with me for sometime, but the group didn’t encourage me for that. I myself found it not feasible to carry for long and had to leave it somewhere. I am feeling very guilty for having polluted the environment. I promise to take care of this from next time. Myself being a nature lover, I wouldn’t like anybody (including me) to damage the vulnerable nature. I want to educate the group especially Shaleen regarding this.

From there one could walk on the edge of the hill, there is a well defined path there and go to the corner or summit. The path as I said earlier was very scary, breeze made it worse. I made sure that I always walked with the head bending to the other side of the edge, So that I minimize the chances of falling down. Saw the surroundings around, Amby Valley, Dam, Plane Runway, paddy fields, lakes, forests, neighboring hills and so on. Would have loved to spend whole evening there, but had to reach the base village by 3 p.m. to catch the ST Bus. Tarun who was most tired while climbing now was the fastest to go down. Shaleen meanwhile got cramps in his legs and had to slowdown. I accompanied him as Hunny was with his roommate walking fast. Finally, we reached well on time to the bus stop.

Still we had some time left; it was only 3 in the afternoon. So, decided to visit some place on the way back. Shaleen suggested at the beginning of the trip itself that he wants to spend sometime playing in water. I thought Bushi Dam would be the best place, as when I went there last time with my parents. Dam was overflowing with water. That water used to flow down along the steps where people can easily approach and play. Since monsoons are not yet over, I thought it would be same again. But this time there was no water flowing down the steps. It was so dry that it looked like steps to just reach the dam. I was thoroughly disappointed considering the expectations with which I had come. As it was Sunday evening there was a huge crowd mainly from Mumbai. The place looked like a shopping complex within the city. Once could trek to the hill adjacent to the dam. But nobody had any energy or motivation left to trek again. So took reverse gear back to Mumbai. We had some hopes of looking at the sceneries outside this time at least. But the train was so crowded that we were happy to at least find a seat for ourselves in the upper berth. Reached Mumbai at 8 p.m. and headed to our respective houses.

Positives from the trip were 1) Place was fantastic and worth going. 2) Group members were like minded and there were no issues on that front. 3) Understood the travails of traveling to villages so that we can better plan next time.

Korigad - Mini Travel Guide
Lonavala is 100 kms from Mumbai and takes 3 hours by an express train. The base to start trekking is Peth-Shahpur Village, 16 kms from Lonavala on the way to Amby-Valley. State Transport Buses are available every 1 or 2 hours starting 9.15 a.m. Private Tempos are also available but they won’t ply unless they get their minimum 20 people.
One way trekking time – 45 minutes
There is a general store at the base where we get Biscuits and Cool Drinks. Nothing is available on the way and at the top. So, we got to carry food on our own. Fruits and water are quite handy.
Last bus to back to Lonavala is at 4.00 p.m.
Best Time to Visit – Path is slippery during rainy season. It would be quite hot and humid during summer. But anytime of the year should still be fine for a light trek like this.

Trend at TrentBridge

Indian win at TrentBridge, Nottingham was a watershed moment in Indian Cricket. Indian Cricket celebrated its platinum jubilee just about a month back. In all those 75 years, 14 tours and 45 matches in England, India had won just 4 tests in England. 28 out of 200 Tests abroad, quarter of them in Zimbabwe (3) and Bangladesh (4). If we consider the figure before 2001 (The golden era of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Kumble), the number gets even lesser. So, Indians historically are poor travelers. All these factors add to the significance of this victory.

Factors responsible for this win
Luck – Rahul Dravid normally an unlucky captain with the coin won a crucial toss. He promptly elected to field first. Pitch and outfield was damp owing to heavy rains. Bowlers made good use of the conditions and bowled out England for less than 200. But when India came on to bat on the 2^nd day, sun was shining brightly. So conditions were favorable to Indians always be it while bowling or batting. Many batsmen might have posted 50 plus scores but each one of them had balls just passing outside edges and catches falling short of fielders. On any other day they would have been wickets. On 4^th evening just when the match was slipping away, Vaughan was dismissed in most uncharacteristic fashion and that was the turning point of the match and England couldn’t recover from there at all. To tell it the other way, India made the best use of luck available to them. Put the unlucky dismissals of Tendulkar and Ganguly behind them.
Fast Bowling – Fast bowling has been a revelation in this tour. We managed to take all 40 wickets in 2 tests, with only 4 bowlers, Kumble not firing, each time without letting England go on a run-feast. Tail-enders has usually been a problem but they didn’t let them loose this time. Earlier the equation used to be simple for home teams, prepare a seaming track and have 4 fast bowlers. Now with the quality of fast bowlers we have and the batsmen, that could be threat to home team too. Zaheer, Sreesanth and RP Singh are more than competent swing bowlers.
Opening Batting – This was supposed to be the weakest link in star-studded Indian batting line-up. We have not found a solid opener since Sunil Gavaskar. I personally believe in having Sehwag the team. Whatever reasons he is failing now was the reason for his success earlier. He has given us blistering starts against toughest of bowling attacks. Any way we now have Jaffer and Karthik. Jaffer is solid in technique, strong on his pads, matured now and scored a hundred in each of previous 4 series. Karthik is one hell of a character, perfect team man, young and energetic, can assume any role in the team. I best remember him for his 90 in second innings partnership with Dravid in Kolkata Test against Pakistan. Both of them have now scored 2 50s each so far in this series. Their start was instrumental in India putting up a big-score.
I have deliberately omitted the middle order batting because they are expected to perform with a combined experience of 400 plus tests. I thought Ganguly’s batting was the best I have seen from him since his 144 at Brisbane. Dravid has massively underperformed considering the standards he sets him-selves in away wins.
Opposition Experience – Only one player has an experience of playing more than 50 Tests and that is that is their captain. Their most experienced bowler is Monty Panesar who made his Debut last year. While in Indian Team we have 5 players with 90 plus test experience.

Weakness
We might have won but that doesn’t mean we don’t have weaknesses. Laxman and Sreesanth were our weakest links. Laxman might have scored 54 but he came to the crease when India had already built substantial lead. His job then would have been to score runs quickly and bat England out of the game. Scoring quickly is not asking too much from him, he is a natural stroke maker, silky gifted beautiful player. The things that I didn’t like about that innings were. One he took 150 balls to score them, way too slow. Two he didn’t protect the tail well enough by scoring singles in the first ball of the over or playing out maidens. Sreesanth was involved more in scoring a few brownie points over the opposition by shouting, pushing and bowling beamers. He did all that in Johannesburg also but he also took 8 wickets and hit a six to Andre Nel.

Where does this win rank itself?
India has proved that it is unfair to call them as poor travelers in this new millennium. With 16 wins at Adelaide, Multan, Rawalpindi, Nottingham, Leeds, Port of Spain, Jamica, Johannesburg, Harare, Bulawayo(twice), Dhaka (thrice), Chittagong and Kandy. Each one of them was extremely important barring those in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. To me it doesn’t quite match with other 8 wins mainly considering the luck we had and the experience of opposition players.

Win one loose very next one
Winning a Test in a series is not new to us and that is exactly what we have done in the n test. But finishing the series on a winning note is. We have lost the very next Test on 6 out of 8 times we won. The win-lose pairs are Adelaide-Melbourne, Multan-Lahore, Port-of-Spain – Barbados, Johannesburg-Durban, Bulawayo-Harare, Kandy-Colombo. We didn’t loose 2 times because they were the last test of the series that we went on to win. So what this suggests is that we work hard towards a win and get complacent after winning. The opposition on the other hand pull-up their socks. Win should ideally enable us to build confidence and belief to win next one.

Hope we don’t go flat at Oval
My prediction at the beginning of the series has already gone wrong. It is already 1-0 when I was expecting a 0-2. Good, very good. Can my prediction go exactly opposite by India winning 2-0? It is possible but India must overcome complacency. Oval should be a good batting track. It should help the spinners later on. We got to be wary of Monty, use Kumble well. We got to play to win this match too, instead of playing for a draw and securing the series. In this regard, I would like to drop slow scoring Laxman and bring in additional bowler in Ramesh Powar. He is not afraid to flight the ball. We will be spending a lot of time bowling and extra bowler could come very handy. Message to batsmen would be to attack, score at more than 3.5 runs per over. I repeat “Please don’t play for a draw”.

Mumbai Darshan

This is a one-day trip around Mumbai showing us a few important areas. Organized by college to help all new-comers of Mumbai get acquainted with the place. Mumbai being the commercial capital, it is very important that students of business management are familiar with it. To me this was the first time I went out even 1 month after coming to Mumbai.

We had breakfast at College at 8.30 and supposed to start the journey by 9. But Mis-management started there, the Bus took off only by 10.15. At Mumbai, it is very difficult to sit inside the Bus when it is not moving. Totally 130 out of potential 400 turned out for the trip. 4 buses were arranged, our bus had about 20 people with 1 girl. Most of them were sitting at the back seats, singing and shouting. A few us were with different priorities, that of seeing outside. Tarun, Shaleen, Ashutosh and I were sitting in the front rows.

I was sitting with Ashutosh. He is a Mining Engineering Graduate from IT-BHU, worked in Hindustan Zinc for 3 years. He is a silent guy like me. I tried to kick start the conversation by talking something general. It didn't help in continuing the conversation as he replied them with Yes and No. I then asked him about his company, this enthused him and started explaining about it (Hindustan Zinc). I have been following Business news for the last 3-4 years but haven't heard much about it. May be because I don't track much on the metals and commodities space. All I knew was that zinc prices were rising. 5 years back it had profits of 250 crores when it was completely government controlled. Later it got disinvested and Anil Aggarwal led Sterlite took ownership. Now he says it has profits of 4400 crores i.e 1b$ in profits on 2b$ sales, hence 50% margins. Wow, we know so much about Infy, TCS and Wipro even they are yet to reach 1b$ profits. But don't know about this one.
He also told me a few things about him and his batch-mates. Most of them have joined IIMs or have started their own Businesses. I didn't know much about IT-BHU as a top Engineering college. But he said, selection is through IIT-JEE and one needs to get within 1000 to get Computer Science. He himself had a rank of 2700 and got Mining. This makes me feel so proud because my class batch profile is so good. We have average Work-ex of 2 years, mostly Engineers from various disciplines. Most have studied from NITs and other top colleges.

Then Tarun and Shaleen interrupted us, they are very funny, they cracked jokes we laughed heartily. We reached Bandra-Kurla Comlpex (BKC). It was a totally different place than rest of the places I seen so far. So many companies especially Banks have their Head Offices there. To list a few SBI, ICICI, BoB, BoI, NSE, Workhardt, Kotak, ONGC and IOC. This indicates me how developed our Businesses are compared to the rest of the things. The 15 minutes time that the Bus traversed through BKC was time spent at the paradise. After that traffic jam, slum, smell or normalcy restored. There was a brief stop at Hanging Gardens and Kamala Nehru Park. From Kamala Nehru park one could have a panoramic view of Choupatty Beach, Marine Drive, Nariman Point, BSE etc. It was beautiful. Captured a lot of pictures there.

Next stop was at Gate Way of India, on the way we went through HajiAli, Malabar Hills, Marine Drive, Wankhade Stadium and Nariman Point. The guide was explaining us the significance of each of the places. Wankhade stadium to me is one of the unluckiest stadiums along with Chinnaswamy in Bangalore. I can remember India loosing 3 matches in last 5 years to Australia, South Africa and England. Nariman point is another place where top companies have their head offices. Air India being the notable one. Marine Drive is also called Queen's Necklace because at night when seen from top the lights along glitters like necklace. I myself have seen it while I was flying from Mumbai to Bangalore at the time of Admission. So far so good!

After Gateway of India, we went to Nehru Science museum. Now, this is what I simply don't understand. Why are Post Graduate Management students taken to a children science museum? Anyway we were taken there. There we had to wait for half an hour for buying tickets, time is already 3 now. I had not mentioned about lunch so far. That means we are yet to have it and we are extremely hungry and frusrtated. From the ticket counter musuem is a good half a kilometer far. Then we again had to wait for another 45 minutes to gain entry inside the museum where on ground floor lunch was served. The wait outside was so agonising. Even the clouds were not there to save us from angry mid-day sun. Life is all about ups and downs, as was this day. After people were let inside, strength being 130 and only one food counter. There has to be another long wait. By that time I was used to the hunger. Had lunch and went to museum to see school level sound and light displays. Remembered the basic science principles studied 15 years back. Came back to the bus. Wait is not over yet. There was another half an hour wait for everyone to come back. Whatever plans were there for the rest of the day was canceled including the 4D show. I had lost all the energy and enthusiasm. Slept in the bus all the way back and reached back to college and 6.

What a waste of time. That's why I don't enjoy going anywhere with lots of people. I like to go only with a small group of people with same priorities or even alone or with another friend. Hard to find such people as my priorities are so different from others. To me the basic purpose of going somewhere is to see that place. Not for singing, dancing, shouting, drinking or socializing. I like to visit natural places with rivers, forests, hills and valleys. But I don't always have the choice. I end up compromising most of the times inpite of having spent my time, money and effort.

Indian Cricket tour to England 2007 - Preview

How important is England for Cricket
England is THE place to play cricket. Game of cricket originated from here. The venues are all of historic significance. Lords is the Mecca of cricket. Oval was where the first cricket test was played in 1877, 130 years ago. The playing conditions are different from those in sub-continent. It is not that hot even during summer, temperatures are in low 20s. So, good conditions for players to concentrate on their game and not get distracted by heat, sweat, fatigue and cramps. England is a small and developed country, systems are friendly and efficient hence players don’t have to face the perils of travel and accommodation. Players have enough hang out players to the likings of anybody’s tastes. Grounds really live up to their reputations, outfield is green and uniform, pitches are hard, dressing room and stadium facilities are great. Crowd is decent, understand cricket test cricket in particular, and appreciate good performance be it from the home team or visiting team. You find about 50 former test stars watching with their families just like any other spectator. They are very successful in attracting top international players play in their domestic county matches. Achievements in England are well documented and recorded in History. All the grounds record 5 wicket hauls and centuries in museum boards. It then becomes ultimate pride for players` names to feature in the coveted list. Pitches facilitate seam movements for fast bowlers and ball comes on well to the bat for batsmen. As batsmen one got to have the right technique to cope up with seam movements. As bowler one needs to pitch the ball up without fear of getting hit and let the pitch do the rest.

Previous Tours
India has toured England 14 times for 45 matches since their maiden tour in 1935 till their last tour in 2002. Won 4 matches (each one of them memorable) and with it 2 series. Ajit Wadekar led team won it 1-0 in 1971 and Kapil Dev`s team won it 2-0in 1986. On the last tour Saurav Ganguly led his team to 1-1 draw, including the biggest of all overseas wins, innings and 46 runs in conditions favoring the home team at Leeds. The present generation Indian stars had their foundations in International cricket laid in England. Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden century here in 1990 and became the youngest Test Centurion. Anil Kumble made his debut in the same series. Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid wore their first Indian cap in the same Test at Lords in 1996. What they have done then is well known. Irony is that Sunil Gavaskar averages only 41 in England. Kumble hasn’t got 5 wickets in an innings. Neither Sachin nor Sunil scored a century at Lords. Vengsarkar scored 3 of them in successive tests at Lords.

Key players
Coming to this tour, Sachin Tendulkar and Sreesanth hold the key to India success and Kevin Peitersen and Monty Panesar are that to England.
Sachin is looking in ominous touch, scored 2 fluent 90s in ODIs, but the best had been the 171 against English Lions while leading Indian side. It has by far the most belligerent innings in last 5 years. He now has scored 4 centuries in 4 first class games. One in Ranji final against Bengal, two against Bangladesh in Tests before the last one. It has given hope for many of his fans to watch the old Sachin in action. On personal front, this will be his last tour to England as a Test Player. He would want to make it his own by adding to his tally of 37 tons and scoring his 20,000^th first class run. He is only 350 odd runs short of that mark, averaging just short of 60. The most I like about present Sachin is that scores loads of runs without looking like scoring them. He just helps the ball on its way playing more behind the wicket.

Sreesanth but not Kumble will be the key to Indian bowling in England. Not to underrate Kumble’s role but to highlight that he is taken for granted. Sreesanth doesn’t fear pitching the ball up, he cal bowl good out-swingers. He had played a major part in last 2 overseas successes at Jamica and Johannesburg. He is quite expressive, keeps the proceeding lively however heated the real battle is. It will be good to see his exchanges with another character Peitersen the KP.

KP is in the best of his form, dream international career so far, scoring 2500 runs in just 25 tests all against quality oppositions, 10 of them against Australia. His attaching style, walking down the pitch to bowlers can affect the rhythm of even the best of bowlers. He outscores all his team-members with whom he has long partnerships.

With Flintoff and Harminson out due to injuries, Monty Panesar will be the main threat to the celebrated strong Indian batting line-up. He is lion hearted, consistently attacking, hardly giving away loose deliveries, mixing up well with his turn and drift. Being a spinner he can bowl long spells, giving little breathing time to the batsmen. He started his test career just 18 months back bowling Sachin for his first wicket at Nagpur. Now he has come a long way to become the side’s strike bowler and world’s 6^th best bowler. Traditionally England have used spinner as a defensive option to bowl overs when their main fast bowlers are tired. Sachin`s weakness against left spin in well exploited by Nicky Boje, Ashley Giles, Ray Price and Paul Harris.

Challenges
Indian challenges for this would be
1. Finishing off the tail – England already has a deep batting line-up up to Mather Prior at No.7. After taking their wickets either the bowlers get tired or complacent or both. Simple way to overcome that is to bowl to them as they were to any top order batsmen.
2. Lack of experience – Barring Zaheer Khan we don’t have bowlers with an experience of even 10 tests. Agarkar, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel have been left out for good.
3. Defensive 4 bowler strategy – After 3 fast bowlers finish their spells, bulk of the bowling needs to be done by Kumble and a part-time bowler. In Test Cricket wickets don’t come unless there is pressure applied from both ends for sustained period. If we sum-up Indian bowlers’ average wickets per match, they add up to only 14, assuming 1 run-out we can take only 15 wickets, while to win a Test match we need 20 wickets clearly suggesting that we are a bowler short.
4. Opening Combination – Jaffer hasn’t been in the best of form, has never looked comfortable against moving ball. His 4 hundreds have all come in good batting conditions. Karthik isn’t a regular opening batsman.
5. Aging middle order – This has been the strength as far as India is concerned. This will be their last tour of England and they should not get over-awed by the situation. Take it as just another tour, but it is easier said than done. They need to respect Monty however naturally talented they maybe in playing spin bowling.

England on the other hand has different challenges
1. They last played West Indies and won 3-0. That was early summer and conditions suited home team. It will be easy for the England to be confident and feel that everything is right with them. It has been a good warm-up no doubt but need to take things into right perspective.
2. Injuries to key fast bowlers. Harminson is in doubt for first test. Flintoff is ruled out for the series, he can at best hope for his return during 7 match one-day series. Flintoff’s loss will be significant as they don’t have an all-rounder for replacement. Last time he toured India in 2006 he was instrumental in England drawing the series with 14 wickets, 5 fifties with added responsibility to captain. Hoggard struggled to keep himself fit during West Indies Series.
3. Fast bowling which was has always been their strength is on a decline. Dependence on Panesar is increasing. Against India this may not be the right ploy.
4. Andrew Strauss has been struggling, scoring only one 50 in last 17 test innings beginning Ashes series. Vaughan who was run-machine last time around with 2 scores in 190s and 600 runs overall may not be as effective with the bat.

Predicted Result
I need to be very careful while writing this, because it can be compared to at the end of the series. Any major mismatch from the actual will reduce my reputation as a forecaster, if at all I have any ;-) Sorry to disappoint Indian fans but I predict a 2-0 win for England. It could have been 3-0 but one odd batting genius or rain could help in India drawing 1 match. Remember we are playing in during hotter summer, when the sun-shine will help Indian batting. It is not that Indians are weak compared to England. But difference is just in cashing in on an opportunity and not allowing opposition to get back into the game. It is not that I am an English supporter; I just want to make a realistic assessment. I hope I am proved wrong!

Why should/does companies grow?

I read the news about Indian Express Group CEO Shekar Gupta not happy about his company's growth. It has grown at just 3% while the print media industry grew by 25%. I also hear salesmen, marketiers, managers being set stiff targets that only grows every quarter/year. Thus making them completely stressed out, leading them to find out shortcuts, sacrifising on the quality of product/service.

I can understand that for public listed companies the share holders' interests must be protected. The share holders want growth in the value of stock and dividends. That is possible only by increased profits. Increased profits is possible only by increased sales, cutting costs, improved efficiency, higher market share etc. All investors who are fundamentals oriented not only look for PE ratio, they also include Growth factor and hence PEG ratio i.e the PE in comparable with annual growth. High PE valuation of Pantaloons, Bharti, Infosys, ICICI Bank etc are justified by their similarly high growth rates.

Good growth is good for all stake holders of the Business. Customers, Investors, Employees, Government, Society. I will illustrate in simple terms how it is good for each one of them.
Customers - They will get same products at lower cost or higher quality or wider range of products or better service or any or all of them.
Supplier - When company grows the order volume of supplier increases which is a good thing for him.

Investors - This is where the main pressure for growth comes from. No investor does not want growth. It could have been phrased as All investors want growth. It is said in a double negative way just to emphasize the point. As illustrated before their returns increases only when comp anies grow. It is not enough if they just grow, their growth have to be accelerated. That is the growth rate should grow.
Employees - Each self respecting employee wants a growth in his salary, perks and position or at least keep his job. The chances of that happening are more when the company grows. When companies don't grow, employees are the first to face the axe.

Government - They get more taxes. Reliance paid 2500 crores in taxes to government. Trade and exports increase. Economy as a whole benefits.
Society - People get more jobs and their income and prosperity improves.
So, growth is self-sustaining, at least it seems looking at points above.

But it doesn't always happen and it takes extra-ordinary effort on the part of Management and Employees to sustain growth. We will see why
1) Competition - Along with us there will be other who want to do well, make money by increasing the market share. This results in our market share being eaten. Even though the overall market is growing, if the competitor grows faster than the market and us, we loose out.
2) Economic Recession - In this scenario the consumer demand and spending decreases and them market in which the company operates decreases. Growth and Recession occurs in cycles difference being former is virtuous and latter vicious. There is not much the company can do to solve this problem.
3) Self Destruction - This happen when the people who matter have vested interests, cheat or are even lazy.

India is in a high economic growth path as of now and it is not very difficult for the companies to grow, but interesting thing is how long is this going to continue? I hope it does for a significantly long time as I would like to cash-in on it and settle down without much of a struggle.

Test Cricket is Real Cricket

I have been a great cricket follower for about 10 years. Initially I used to watch all the cricket matches be it live or repeat telecasts. Later with maturity I started following only Test Cricket, ignoring One-day cricket. I still have more than average knowledge of One-day cricket though. Let me discuss why I have such a prejudice.

The Real Test
The name "Test" is thought to arise from the idea that the matches are a "test of strength" between the sides involved. It is a test of physical and mental strength, skill, character, patience, concentration, strategy and ability to handle pressure. Batsmen is not judged just by the ball he plays but also by the ball he leaves. Again, bowlers are judged on how much he can make the batsmen play. No matter how many matches a team wins on its home grounds on familiar conditions, pitch tailor made to suit their bowlers and batsmen, facing home crowds, enjoying their support and putting their opposition in difficulty by not providing them the facilities, the real test begins when they tour and play overseas. Australia is the only Team to win Test Series in all countries they have toured and deservingly they are the No. 1. The preparation level and the adaptability to conditions overcoming home-sickness becomes all the more important overseas. Nobody can be judged by their performance on 1 day in 1 innings, but we need 5 days and 2 innings to decide the result of a match and a series of at least 3 matches to decide on who the better team is in a bilateral series.

Weight attached
Test is the "highest and the longest form" of the cricket game and is the sub-set of First Class Cricket. Only 10 cricket playing nations have so far got the Test Status after proving that they have all the qualities required to play at that level. A Test Win, a Test Cap, the white jersey, test debut, test century, a 5 wicket haul etc are close to the hearts of any Player and is worth is weight in gold because very few people from his country to have got it. Robin Singh has played about 140 ODIs before finally playing his solitary Test. But, when I see a TV interview of him he is introduced as "Robin Singh, Former Indian Test Cricketer". A world record in tests is a real great achievement as nobody else has done it for 130 years in the game. So many grounds are used to play ODIs in India and everywhere else, but only a subset of them are qualified as a "Test Ground" which means a lot to those grounds. The quality of pitch, it should last for 5 days, facilities the ground provides allowing players to practice for 5 days, providing accommodation and so on. In 1999 world cup in England, Australia lost initial set of matches that were played in non-test grounds. But later when they played bigger matches in Test grounds they won and went on to win world-cup too. Showing that performance of teams should be judged by their performance in quality grounds (Test grounds) against quality oppositions (Test Nations) in bigger games.

Even contest between bat and ball
The real test of the bowler should be his ability to take wickets by planning and working the batsmen out. One-day game is more of a bats men's game, there is nothing in it for bowlers. A bowler is limited to bowl only 10 overs with run containing being his primary goal in defensive and restricted field settings. Whereas in Test cricket he bowls with the aim of taking wickets by placing his fielders in catching positions like slips and gully for fast bowlers and close in positions for spin bowlers. Wickets are very important in a Test match than in a one-day match, a side may be no loss or all down for 250 in 50 overs, still the chasing side needs only to score 251 runs to win the game. When wickets are so important batsmen has to cut-down in his risks and score runs only of bad balls. A good bowler doesn't bowl too many bad balls and then the batsmen has to do something different to break the shackles or try an adventurous shot in the process risks loosing his wicket. The Test for the batsmen here is the patience to wait for bat balls, ability to score runs of good balls, skill in understanding the bowling and fielding strategy, concentration in facing ball after ball and picking it the way it is released by the bowler, practice of playing off-spin or doosra, leg-spin or googly, fast ball or slow ball, short pitch or yorker. Even a short lapse of concentration can cost the batsmen his wicket, it might take him 200 balls to score a 100 but only 1 ball is enough to loose his wicket. Generally 1st innings of the test match is for the batsmen because the wicket is fresh and placid also the pressure on batsmen is lesser as he knows that irrespective of what happens now there still is one more full innings to go, while the 2nd innings is for the bowlers when the wicket wears and tears, odd ball keeps low, spinners get lot of turn and bounce from the rough patches around bats men's foot, pressure starts getting better of the batsmen, batsmen focuses more on the match result than on facing the next ball.

Luck factor
It is always the better team or the team that played better cricket during the period of the test , wins. In a one-day matches one or two lucky/unlucky moments decide the fate of the game. We have heard "Every dog has a day", so the team on its days wins in one-day matches. Whereas in a test match team needs to play well on majority of days i.e. at least 3 days. We have seen Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe and even Ireland win one-day matches against quality oppositions on its day. We never had such instances in Test Matches over last 130 years. We might have seen sub-continental teams loosing to Zimbabwe in Tests but it is more because of the unpredictability of Asian teams than the real quality of Zimbabwean Team. We also have seen Bangladesh coming close to beating Pakistan and Australia but when it came to the wire Bangladesh were simply not tough enough, while Inzamam and Ponting showed the real class needed to compete at the Test level in those matches respectively. In test cricket unlike one-day cricket it is not a case where somebody has to win. The match can end in a draw, which is very fair. England stole the 2005 Ashes though a draw in their Final Test at oval. A Test win is that much more valuable as the opposition can play for a draw thereby denying other team a win and the winning team should have put in an extra-ordinary effort to force the result. Some might say one or two bad umpiring decisions or unlucky situations as a reason for the Team's defeat. But the test match is not just about those one or 2 moments there are countless other moments over 5 days, 15 sessions, 30 hours, 450 overs and 2700 balls. Why weren't they in control of those moments if they really were the better team? Why did those 1 or 2 moments decide the fate of the test match?

I am not alone who tells this
Having watched so many matches, listened to commentaries, read newspapers, magazines, books and websites, I feel that all true cricket lovers agree with me that Test Cricket is the Real Cricket. When somebody talks about a Cricket Tour they talk about Test Matches or evaluate the winner of the tour by the result in Tests. Indian team of 2003-04 is considered as the best team ever to tour Down Under even though India lost badly in the One-day series. Australia tour of India in 2001 is one of their worst failures as they failed to conquer their final frontier. Who remembers that then Australia won the ODI series 3-2. 2005 Ashes series is considered the best ever series played in cricket and so many books and DVD are sold on it. Does anybody know that there were one dayers also played at all in that Tour, let alone knowing the winner.
Coming to the players themselves, the current generation has produced so many greats the likes of Ponting, Dravid, Lara, Sachin, Inzamam, Waugh, Muralitharan, Warne, McGrath, Kumble etc most of them are quitting one-dayers after 2007 world cup in a bid to concentrate on Test Matches. I am taking the example of current generation players in particular as they have played good number of one-day matches as well unlike the earlier generations. Steve Waugh in his Autobiography "Out of my comfort zone" has openly admitted this. www.cricinfo.com, the most popular cricket website run by Wisden group covers all forms of cricket but their focus is more on Test Cricket.

Who said it is boring?
If we see the game only to see batsmen hit sixes and fours or getting out, then it is boring as their frequency is a little less to keep anyone interesting. But if we understand the intensity and state of the game, in the context of the series, with the history of clashes between the teams, the team composition, their strengths and weakness, kind of pitch where the match is being played, contest between bat and ball, kind of fatigue/attrition the players are going through there is nothing as interesting in cricket as the longer format offers. Don't we think and plan at the end of each day, how the team should approach its next day, the first hour, first session and so on. When they should declare, what could be a competitive total, how many overs are necessary to bowl the opposition out the second time? What it it rains? If it is not interesting would we do that? I have seen the tense last hour at Chennai in 2001 India narrowly clinching the series against Australia, the target of 155 in 4th innings looked easy and India were well on track at 100 for 2 but what happened later was dramatic, even the likes of Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar couldn't handle the kind of pressure. With so much at stake, stopping Australians from conquering their final frontier, winning the series after looking like getting whitewashed 0-3 mid-way through the series. I don't remember how many heart-beats I have missed then. Whoever has watched the Centenary Test 1977 in Melbourne or The Greatest Test at Birmingham in 2005 Ashes or the India vs Pakistan Chennai Test in 1999 or Australia vs West Indies in Bridgetown in 2000 or the Tied Tests would get irritated when a naive cricket lover says Test Cricket is Boring.

Importance of One day cricket
Having debated the superiority of Test Cricket, One day cricket also has a role to play. One day cricket is useful in promoting cricket to the masses including not so serious cricket followers, it being the abridged version, we can see more sixes, fours, wickets at a faster rate, all matches have result and hence more entertainment. It is also the form the game that decides the World Champions which is the most prestigious tag to have in Cricket. Even lesser teams like Kenya, Ireland and Canada play them on a regular basis and cricket as a sport is spread there too. It is very important from Revenue point of view too. There are so many viewers hence so many companies promoting their advertisements and so many jobs created and so much money exchanged. Hence it is a win-win situation to the Cricket Board who sell the media rights, Media who broadcast the match luring advertisers, advertisers market their products effectively and reach more customers. It also creates a whole new market for gamblers. Players also find a stage to increase their popularity, endorse products and deepen their pocket. Better the performance of the player, better is his demand for advertisements, hence a great incentive for him to perform better which is good for cricket. So many non-cricket lovers become time-pass cricket lovers and become real cricket lovers and start following Test Cricket too. With the advent of one-day cricket we are seeing a revolution in Test Cricket as well. There are more results these days in Test Matches. Runs are scored at a faster rate, 4 runs per over has become a norm these days compared to 2.5 runs per over in pre-one-day period. Few of the most under-rated aspects in the past were fitness, ground fielding and running between the wickets. Come one-day cricket, these aspects got its much deserved importance. We see a lot more commitment from players now. We don't see many quadragenarians playing Cricket now, although we cannot rule that out with improved levels of fitness especially among Australians in recent years. One-day cricket now has scaled such a height that a score of 434 has been chased successfully but the highest 4th innings total to win a Test Match is only 418 ! Co-incidentally Australia was at the receiving end on both of those monumental occasions.

So all in all, both have their roles to play in Cricket and it is important for us to understand them too.

Disclaimer: Everybody is entitled to his opinion but the contents of this page are not merely my opinions but facts.

Orkuting

The write this repenting for having deleted my orkut account about a week back.

Orkut is an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends. An innovation by a Stanford Grad and Google employee Orkut Buyukkokten. Hi5 and yahoo360 are other such online communities. Orkut has 20 million users and is growing very fast.

One needs to get an invitation from somebody who is already having an orkut account. Naveen invited me in December 2005. Since then I had collected about 140 friends mostly from my school, college and office. I would have been in touch with only 10% of them if not for orkut. I not only get to know about them through their profile but also can write messages in their scrapbook. Also peep into others profiles and scrapbooks. Since April this peeping activity was limited because each one can know who all has visited one's profile. It will be bad if I know the person, visit his profile and don't add him as my friend. I myself had updated as much information as possible about me, not hiding anything. So anybody who visits my profile will know my full Biodata. I had also given link to my online photoalbum I wrote testimonials for Naveen, Kishore, Prasanna and Rahul. Naveen and Avinash each wrote it for me. Friends used to scrap atleast with anyone of "Hi, How are you?, How is life? How is work? Wassup? Where are you? Do you remember me? etc"

So it was good going in orkut. Good time pass and lot of time passed. What was time pass later turned into addiction with growing number of friends scrapping and inviting to join communities. I used to begin my day at office finding out what is written in my scrap entry and who has sent me friend request last night. At breaks I again visit orkut and forget the work being assigned to me. My colleages found me orkuting most of the time at office. Even my leaders and managers have noticed it a few times. A few colleages used to make fun of me, they used to ask at the end of the day "Tell me what have you done at office other than orkut and cricinfo?". I didn't have any answers. I can defend telling that I have finished all the work assigned to me. It is only upto what I know I have been assigned, my PL will know the works I had not done. Many like me at office began orkuting and company had to block the url itself. That didn't help, we always found one or the other proxy servers to open orkut. My actual priorities are CAT, Office and then Friends. With my orkut addiction it got entirely reversed. I come to office to open orkut.com, in spare time and late in the day do office work and go to sleep, with no time left for my main priority CAT.

Then one day out of madness, not able to find the right way to resist my temptation, I deleted my account. With this Naveen, Kishore, Prasanna and Rahul lost the testimonials I had written. Avinash had written a testimonial recently that ofcourse tells good about me but indirectly more good about himself as to how creative he can be. Whoever visits my profile will immediately find his testimonial and that increases his visibility among my friends. That is all thrashed now. All connections I managed to establish with my friends are lost. I really feel sorry for them. It is all fine if I am able to focus on my top priority and come out successful this time.

Why did I start Blogging?

I have been thinking of blogging for 3 months now and finally I started blogging. Initially in GooglePages where I have to do a lot of page editing myself. Now I am using Blogger which most I know is using. Came out of the starting trouble with a post or two. Now let me get to the basic question as to why did I start Blogging? Is it that everybody who uses internet blogs and so should I? Or I am crazy, that's why I am blogging. My writing skills aren't that great, I am not such a happening person or the most knowledgeable person to write frequently. These are some negative thoughts that come.

From the time I realised that time is a precious resource and I need to manage time. I started writing a kind of forward diary wherein I plan for the next day and write them down in a diary book. Next day I see to it that the things planned are done. This way I will not forget on a few important things to do that I have just thought yesterday. Also I have a documentation of the days I lived. Still, this approach is limited to myself and is not for sharing with others.

Later I felt like documenting about my travelling, experiences I had, interests, book reviews etc. I started writing them in a email to our mailing group (Avinash, Jeyson, Naveen, Harsha and Sudeep). We used to have active communication. I thought of sharing to more number of people, having it in a common place from where it can be accessed by anybody(including myself), anytime and from anywhere and that is the Blogosphere. What I have written now may not make much sense now but it will act as a good window to the past a few years later. Not everyone gives an opportunity to talk about what we like to the length we like in a way we like. Blogs are open to everything.

I have read a lot, but have hardly written. I used to avoid any chances to write essays, debate or speak publicly at schools and colleges. This is a space where I can try my hand at writing, make mistakes and correct them based on feedback from other well wishers. I have struggling to improve my vocabulary and grammar. And I think writing will help me a long way in this regard. With me aiming to crack CAT, GMAT etc, I think this is the time. Will try to post frequently on as diverse topics in the best possible way.

Bilikal Rangaswamy Betta

Place - Bilikkal Rangaswamy Betta and Mekedatu Sangama near Kanakapura.
Date - Saturday, 24, June 2006.
Group - 7 members, Anand(Leader), Anupama, MuthuSelvan, Rahul, Selvaraj, Sushmitha and I


We have going for Trekking around Bangalore quite frequently now. The group has a few common people like Anand, Anupama, Muthu, Selvaraj and I. Still there will be atleast 2 new faces for every trip. This time it was Rahul and Sushmita. Anand takes the responsibility of deciding the place and date, collecting information about the place, booking vehicle, inviting people and all other tour conducting activites. It would have been better if he even finances for us. The rest of us just go enjoy and come, not to mention the moral support and cooperation. More than anything else we tolerate him too ;-) I take a camera with me always, take photos mostly of scenaries around, less of people contrary to everyone's liking.

All of us came to Anand's House in Banashankari by 7.30 IST. Had Benne Dosa for breakfast at a hotel. Headed to Bilikal Betta by Qualis. To everybody's liking Jogi songs were played all the way. We reached the base of the betta by 11. We found 2 village children who can guide us to the top. We needed to cross a small river and start climbing. Sadly the river had little water this time. Compared to other hills around Bangalore, here there was some greenery with a few Trees.

The day was cloudy but no rain and it was a big plus to help us in climbing. We had only Water Bottles and some scacks to carry. With boys comfortably outnumbering girls, carrying job was almost equally shared. I took photos of the Hill, foothills around, flowers, river and people also sometimes. The climbing was thoroughly entertaining with Anand trying to pull other's legs and making blunders in the process, while I was getting pulled. Sushmita and Rahul singing old Hindi songs, they made a good singing duo didn't they? Slowly the climbing started to get tougher, real trekking started. We could not take frequent long breaks as we also need time to cover Mekedatu. Rahul was finding it difficult as he had to carry himself which was a Big deal, his back-pain wasn't helping him either. We started hearing noices from another group ahead of us. Mention of few good looking girls motivated Rahul (not that it didn't motivate others). When asked where they were from, they said they were a project team from another Software Company, led by their manager. What better work do these IT Professionals have, sit idle throughout the week and break the stillness by going for trekking on weekends. We overtook them, took a rather long break at a rock, drank water as if we have never had it for a long time. Recharged our batteries and continued our ascent. Finally reached the top at about 12.30, to find a temple on one side and a glorious veiw point on the other.

From Left - Sushmitha, Muthu, Myself, Anupama, Muthu, Rahul and 2 Local Boys

It was very windy at the view-point. It helped us quickly dry the sweat. We took a few group photos sitting at a rock(non-living on the edge). Anand practiced a few of his stunts that scared us more than him. Spent around 1 hour there enjoying the strong breeze, chatting, singing, pulling each others legs and eating. Visited the temple later, the priest told us that around 50 thousand people come there for Sankaranthi, inspite of the difficulty in reaching the place. It seems there is another route by which vehicles including buses can come.



Time was 1.30, we had to start going down as we also planned to see Mekedatu. Coming down was relatively easy, obviously though. But coming down slowly was more difficult, Rahul wouldn't agree any better as he was to last one to reach the top but the first one to go down. Going down puts a lot of stress on the thigh and calf muscles. But while climbing up the stress is on the Back muscle.

We reached down by 2.30. Had lunch at Kanakapura. Sangama was about 30 km drive from the Kanakapura. Buses are available to that place. It was about 4.30 by the time we reached the Sangama of 2 tributaries of River Kaveri. Going to Mekedatu and coming back would require atleast 2 hrs, so we skipped mekedatu and spent time bathing at Sangama. One must cross the river and take a bus to mekedatu. The water current was good enough to prevent one from making any progess while swimming against it. Rahul, Anand and I tried but could hardly move forward, not moving backwards was a big deal for us. But Selva used to defy all odds (current and fact that others couldn't) and mange to move. We then played tug of war including one girl also in each team. It was more fun to celebrate after winning than playing itself.

We started back as soon as it was getting dark at 6.30. Many of us fell asleep while coming back. Got up only after reaching Anand's house. Had another round of chatting at Anand's house, mainly discussing about how the trekking went about, who did what etc.

For Rahul and me the adventure was not yet over rather it only started. Our houses at Rajapalya near ITPL is a good 30km drive along Ring Road till Marathahalli and a deviation there. A horror was to happen at the Ring Road but we luckily escaped. We were going at about 40 kmph on Rahul's HeroHonda Passion. He cannot go much above that speed though. A lorry was coming behind us at its full speed coming closer and closer as moemnts went by. Rahul showed an indication to the lorry to slowdown as there was a speed breaker ahead. The lorry didn't slow down but it shifted to the right lane and hit a car which slowing down at the road-hump. It would have certainly hit us had it continued coming on the left side and it would have been the last day for us in this world. Only the car suffered the damage and nothing happend to people inside it. We felt lucky and just escaped from the scene not bothering what happened at that spot later.

I shouted at Rahul for him going in the middle of the road at such a slow pace and not taking any defensive measures when the lorry was threatening to run over us. He was not perturbed at all and was not understanding why I was bothered. He was wearing helmet for the first time and didn't realise everything that happened. He explained that he did the right thing by showing indication to the lorry to slowdown and there was no fault in him. I plead, "Boss, I agree with you that it is not your fault. Lord Yama doesnot give his verdict based on whose fault it is. It is our responsibility to take defensive action by going to a side and avoid being run over and killed."

My Parents' 25th Wedding Aniversary

My parents have completed 25 years after their Marriage on Wednesday, 15th June, 2006. I thought it will be fantastic for them to have their children around on that V V S (very very special) occasion. And I applied for 2 days leave well in advance which my manager kindly approved. Also booked a night bus to go to my hometown Puttur for the day before.

On 14th, with the ticket safely in my purse, I reached the KSRTC Bus stand by 9.10 well in advance to catch the 9.45 Bus. Had some snacks and was heading towards my Bus. I met my college Junior Narendra(fondly called as H1 Bioler Narendra) there, Oh, what a surprise! And we started conversing as follows

Keshava - Hi Narendra!!, looong time since we have met?

Narendra - Hi Keshava, yeah, long time, in fact 3 years, the time since you finished your college.

Then we talked about what happened in that period, which companies we worked, how many times we tried CAT etc. I changed the topic and the talk went like this...

Keshava - So, how come you are here? Going home is it?

Narendra - Yes, going home and about you?

Keshava - Me too, going home for my parents' 25th wedding aniversary, applied 2 days leave.

Narendra - Ooohh, me too for the same reason.

Keshava - So, what is special, How are you planning to celebrate it?

Narendra - We have a pooja at home, my brother is also coming.

Keshava - OK. fine. My brother is already at home. We are planning to go to a hotel at night and party. And are you presenting anything?

Then came the best part.

Narendra - Yes, I am gifting a Mobile Phone.

Keshava - Wow! I am also gifting Mobile Phone. 2 of them 1 for my father and 1 for my mother. That is the height of co-incidence isn't it? Our parents married on the same day, we are presenting the same thing and we have met after a long time.

Narendra - Yeeeaaah! This is a great co-incidence. We should add to this co-incidence by getting into IIMA this year. We have been dreaming about this for a long time.

The exitement got settled as I looked into my watch showing 9.35. We took each other's phone number, wished each other for the occasion and waved bye bye.

My brother had bought 2 Nokia 6030 Handsets, one black and other silver from a shop that he knows in Puttur. Agreed to pay for it the next day after I come. He bought it home safely so that the parents could notice it at all.

I reached home early morning on The Day. I settled down at home and after some time. We took the Gift Wrapped HandSets from the Hiding place, gave them to my parents and wished them. Gifting mobile phones, thats all we Rich Bangalore based IT professionals can do, isn't it? ;-( No where matches with what they have done for us everyday in the last 25 years. Still they had no expectations of getting a costly(?) gift, all that they wanted were the children to be around them and love them. They took it very happily expressing happiness over the gratitude shown by us. They replaced the SIMs from their Old Handset and we inaugurated the Sets by simply calling within ourselves.

Like we children had planned the parents also had a plan i.e. to visit the famous nearby temples Subramanya, Dharmastala and Southadka.

Subramanya's popularity as a temple has improved tremendously after Sachin Tendulkar's visit. Although it was a Weekday, devotees like us had to stand in long queues to get Lord's Dharshana. I am very fond of Thirupathi Laddu (only for its taste and nothing else), so I bought 2 laadu prasada. To my disappointment its taste no where matched that of Thirupathi's Laadu. We also visited Aadi Subramanya later.

The journey from Subramanya to Dharmasthala was fantastic with the Road going through the thick Rain forests. Bridges and Rivers occuring at regular intervals, Kumara parvatha and other peaks often visible. Road was also good and driving was smooth. It truly was a dream route. I wasn't happy that the vehicle was moving , I wanted it to stop at all view-points available, take few snaps so that I can see it again and again later. At one spot I was so desperate to stop and I told my father about the nature's call and demanded him to stop immediately. That was just before a bridge, River Kumaradhara flowing accross, Kumara parvataha and its reflection visible on the right side of the bridge to make it a spectacular sight. I managed to take a few photos at this place, the photo shown below is one of those memorable photos. But we could not spend much time there as we have to reach Dharmastala before 1 O'Clock after which entry to temple is suspended.

We just managed to reach there some time after 1, still we could manage to enter as my brother knew somebody and he influenced him to let us enter. I prayed for myself and family. Silently prayed for my mom "Dheergha Aayushman Bhava, Dheergha Sumangalee Bhava", Hope you live long healthily, happily with your Husband and Children. Then we decided to have Lunch in the temple itself. We thought of having special Brahmin's Lunch. It is supposed to have more food items, supposed to served with more respect in a cleaner settings. To our disappointment all our expectations were reversed. Our topic for discussion was about Reservation. After lunch we saw the Gomateshwara standing tall and nude. A photo is shown here on the right. One the way back we visited Southadka temple. I like the temple for its Sihi Avalakki Prasada. Spent some time there waiting or the ranga pooje. Headed back to Puttur.

On the road-sides locals used to sell Jackfruits at exorbitant prices. The tourists easily get attracted to it as it is still cheaper than that in their own places. So it is win-win situation for all. We are aware of all this, and we bargained in tulu to get the deal in our favour. Bought 2 Jackfruits in the process adding to 2 that our neighbours had given to make it 4 in total. I was at home for 4 days. So one Jackfruit per day. I am very fond of jackfruits and mangoes. Relatives had given us around 5kgs of mangoes. I dont mind cutting or peeling them myself and eating them alone ;-). So it was Habba for me.

After reaching home we relaxed for sometime. And got ready for partying at my favourite Hotel HariPrasad. Invited my uncle and family too for it. We had a few North Indian dishes in limited quantities (in my standards) and winded up the celebration. Later I withdrew money from the ATM and paid it for the mobiles. Brother bargained and managed to get 200 Rs discount, that amount was close to our Hotel Bill. Althought I enjoyed the day thoroughly it was a taxing day for me ;-)

I uploaded the remaining photos in myphotoalbum.