26/11: A recount

26/11/2010; Two years after the horrific 26/11; Bombay wore a subdued look. The roads were not as busy as usual, restaurants close to being empty and missing the usual buzz. This was not the evening in Colaba-Bombay we are all used to. Only a few ones were curiously ambling around and the epicenter of the horror-Taj was cordoned by Police personnel, arguably more in number than the in-house guests. The Indian youth reformists had an ongoing campaign going on next to the Regal cinema and before I could pen my thoughts, the entire length of the 5km paper ran out of space :-( Here are my unwritten (well actually half written) thoughts:

Every Scam creates a sham;
But who the hell gives a damn

Every politician wants his cake;
And Junta looks for a break

Years have gone, decades will go;
Denied justice will never make us grow

Of all the shortcomings if India needs to shine;
Standing up tall, all of us need to join

Resolutely breaking each and every barrier;
All we should build is a superpower

Thanks to Balu Katti, all five Kattis (well, Four Kattis and one Potdar) could pay our respects to the brave police officers and victims and their families. The renovated Taj dome was glittering, probably recounting the horrific event...

Rucha and Shaila Maushi lighting candles

Glittering Taj Dome

MPs Salary Hike - Govt Salaries - My take

The adage goes, "If you throw peanuts, you only get monkeys" and no wonder then that the adage aptly applies to Indian Parliamentarians and can (more or less) be extended to the entire gamut of Indian Government employees. Government jobs (Teachers, Police, Judges and Bureaucrats etc.) including Parliamentarians are not seeking the same level of talent equipped to handle the job responsibilities to perfection. There have been exceptions but bluntly put the Government jobs in India today are means to get into a cozy permanent position without any accountability over lifetime. Add to that highly responsible jobs do generate nonparallel amount of extra income through corruption leading extravagent life styles, killing the social conscious attached to the job in the process. It's no surprise then that the most talented and highly self-conscious Indian youth is allergic to the Government Jobs and is looking for an alternative. Illustrious, lucrative and more meritocratic private sector careers then beacon leaving government jobs in hands of ill-equipped (I wish not to call mediocre) youth.

Members of Parliamentarians (MP) carry the most coveted and the most responsible position as policy/law makers in the Indian constitution and sadly many of our politicians are most ill-equipped and lackluster to justify their respective positions. Most of the younger generation - Supriya Sule, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, Naveen Jindal and even Rahul Gandhi - that come readily to my mind should ideally fill the chest of all Indians with pride but given their family legacy, Indian politics scene appears to be a family run business. Veterans are no different as they are known to sleep on their chairs and most of them neither demonstrate excellence nor deliver performance/governance. One wonders what our MPs would do if they would not have been MPs? Are they equipped to run alternative administration or policy making management jobs with aplomb? Will anybody else other than their parties hire them? Why then these soles are demanding salary hike? Are they really worthy of it? Alternatively put, Will the Indian state reap the benefits of the amount of money it would be shelling on its policy/law makers?

Answers to these questions are not that black and white as any Politics but I do understand one thing "If you throw peanuts, you only get monkeys" and according to that rule, as a policy maker I would vehemently support the Salary hike for MPs and other Government officials. I prefer to increase the salary package of all the government officials including MPs to their private industry counterparts. I would prefer to do it with a trade-off though. The extra perks - car cavalcade, house and other fringe benefits - should be slashed vehemently and brought under control. Their social status should stay similar to that of a private sector employee. All Government organizations should be run competitively vis-a-vis their private counterparts ensuring good and timely governance with robust processes in place. In the process, government officials should be applauded for their good work and given the stick whenever they err as is the rule in private Industry. The good and honest work should be recognized and promotions and higher responsibilities should be conferred sooner in order to eliminate the otherwise sluggish government careers. All these reforms should be aimed at alluring the promising youth to take up and thrive in the governmental careers, be it a school teacher, a policeman, a Judge, a bureaucrat or be it a MP.

Imagine if India develops a school system as good as Singapore where a school teacher is paid handsomely and can enjoy the social status of a doctor or a lawyer. The talented youth with passion for teaching would never hesitate to take up such a huge job nation building responsibility ensuring good quality education fostering vibrant younger minds. Imagine a Policeman who would never take a bribe to offer a license (will not give license only because he expects a bribe). A traffic policeman who would honestly charge you without taking a bribe and then you would never speed up, break the traffic signal and will obey all legal traffic rules leading to reduced accidents on roads. Non corrupt policemen carrying all their duties with pride without succumbing to pressure from the rich, powerful and influential. Imagine a Judge who would always deliver impartial judgment without being allured to corruption. Imagine every district collector treating his district as his own project -a baby and delivers with par excellence improving thousands of lives. And above all imagine a brigade of young politicians - the status men delivering governance par excellence enticing the youth to actively join politics, more as a reformist...

All these are certainly possible with the beaming economy providing unimaginable opportunities. The need of the hour is to seize these opportunities and what we need is a right person for the right job. That will happen only if we recognize and reward the talented and honest workforce to realize their their true potential so that they fulfill others' dreams. But, one thing is a certain If continue to throw peanuts, we will only get monkeys...

Tryst with Taekwondo

"Hey dude! Can you be a little higher. You are right at my balls and trust me I dream to make a lot of kids", seven and a half feet Wim was paranoid to say the least, as I was alive and kicking during my first ever Taekwondo practice session. With no control over me -- my legs -- my body I was marshaling the art like a headless warrior and a while later it was my turn to yell "Hey Wim! Can you be a little lower or else I won't be able to see them." I was scared to death as Wim's forceful kick approached my face making me see the stars for the real. "What?" Wim did not understand. "I mean you are right in front of my eyes and if you make me blind how will I see your kids?", I responded and both of us gushed into laughter. "Ok! See, listen!...Take it easy, very easy and very very slowly" followed another piece of advice as we started practicing again.

It was my first ever session to learn Taekwondo -- the marshal art I chose to learn just because its name appear longest with the hope that once I learn it I will be strongest and mightiest. As I reached the hall for the first session of the semester expecting a lot of beginners I was surprized to find myself -- a solo tyro amongst an Uniformed group with a variety of colorful belts. Wondering if at all it was the session for beginners like me I inquired a Korean standing next to me. "Yeah! This is the Taekwondo practice session. You wanna fight with us?" beamed an enthusiastic Sam wavering his boxing fists to me. Looking at his black belt I started to take into account my fighting skills. As I started to list my accomplishments as a fighter, my illustrious resume flashed. All I have fought and tamed in my life are a large number of mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches and at times mice. Nevertheless, I used to dissect earthworms exploring its digestive, nervous and reproductive systems with aplomb during class XII biology labs. Cherry on the cake has been that I had also been a bemused spectator during a frog cutting session before I bid my adieu to the noblest disciplines called biology. So fighting with a black belt or for that matter anybody has always been out of question. "Are you crazy. This is my first ever time. I only wish if I can learn some tricks, get a bit fitter in a process and that's it. Fight and all. No way boss. I have never done it, may be this is not a place for me." , I was about to pack my bags thinking if at all I will reach home one piece if I stay over. "No, No. Do not worry. Just practice with us and you will be an awesome fighter. You can demonstrate to your friends and others the skills and they will be amazed. Who knows you may go to Bollywood as a fighter.", Sam was unstoppable. May be it was the lure of Bollywood that made me to stay and practice first session of Taekwondo.

After the warm-up session involving jogging and running, it was time to perform some stretching and kick practice, I was paired with another Korean girl - Ema. Somehow over the years I have always harbored an illusion that my body is not that unfit and certainly a lot more flexible than an average person, definitely worthy of surprising a bystander. But this girl was treating my stretching skills with contempt -- if not a disgrace. She looked at me the same way a F1 driver would tame a lame driver trying to pass a driving test and gestured to offer help as I was trying to stretch beyond my capacity. I only stopped because my pants would have teared off if I had gone an inch further. As I offered to aid her during her stretching she offered another disgraceful look. This was the look of a GM to an amateur chess player; of an expert to a novice as she stretched full 180 degrees to both left and right sides. My jaws were wide open spontaneously. She did not spare up and down stretches as well and she was equally good. It was as good as watching Nadia Comaneci's gymnastic performance. That too for free. To Say the least I was literally humbled. The kicking session saw another ordeal as many times I fall down thumping on my ass only trying to raise my kick -- high, high up to the sky. "Unless you are steady and in full control, never try to hit others", quipped the gymnast. I have also learnt, I remembered Rajkumer saying in his beaming voice: जिनके खुदके घर शीशे के हो वोह दूसरों पर पत्थर नाही फेका करते.

Whale spotting near Farallon Islands

"Date: 4th Oct. 1997; Time: 12pm - Noon; Place: Farallon Islands near San Francisco; The same place where we are about to go today", Carol was as precise as a laser pointer recounting the incident, "I can narrate this incident to you time and again; even in my dreams" Carol - a marin ecologist in the crew added, "Oct. to Dec. every year is a typical time when the great whites (Sharks) populate the Farallon Islands in great numbers to lay eggs. The region is popular for the whales too and that particular day we were on our usual trip to spot these giants (Whales) and others in the Sea."

"There are a very few places in the world where you can spot the giants. Waters near New Zealand is one of the whale hubs and so is the Pacific near San Francisco. Rarely the giants have been spotted near Egypt too. But this sporadic incident that occurred on that specific day near Farallon Islands rekindles the curiosity of the wild life and its mysteries. We, the whale watching crowd witnessed an unexpected, once in a blue moon event on that specific day and it has etched in my memory forever." Carol continued," As we were trying to spot the giant in the waters, some of the members spotted an unusual activity in the waters. Usually we spot the whale through their characteristic resounding breathe and at times splashes. The splash of the giants in the waters on this occasions though was unusually vehement, hugely resounding and outlandishly scary raising suspicions." Carol was excited,"What the hake was happening? Was there a fight going on in the waters? We had no clue. Attack by one giant on the other? One big fish smothering the other big fish? One mammal trying to demolish the existence of the other? We simply had no clue and we hurriedly reported the incident to the nearby biologists. The team arrived and the underwater cameras testified that the great killer whale has recently had the great white shark for breakfast. In a fight that lasted for about 20 minutes, the killer whale could successfully muffle the great white to whet its appetite. Soon the cameras could also video graph the killer whale merrily swimming in the nearby waters triumphantly."

When the videos were shown to an expert biologist; she could readily identify the giant in no time and yelled,"I know her. I know her so well. She is the one who usually resides near the Monterey Bey. What was she doing near the Farallons?" The news flashed on CNN the same day raising a plethora of questions. Is it a normal event unknown to mankind or an extremely rare one? Was the attack meticulously planned or was it just a spontaneous decision taken by the giant? What will be its repercussions on the Sea life?

The event was studied further it came to become a knowledge that this extremely rare attack was indeed meticulously planned by the giant and the repercussions were so huge that for the next few years the great whites absconded from the Farallon Islands and chose to remain in their hub near Hawaii. How the communication between the great white community takes place still remains a mystery and probably these mysteries are the ones that make science so interesting, so much more fascinating...

Although our Whale spotting trip to Farallon Islands was not this eventful, it was certainly memorable and very much enjoyable. Just to be in the vicinity of the giants is an exhilarating experience in itself. I would certainly recommend this trip to one and all visiting the US west coast. The pictures might whet your appetite further...

Breathing Gray Whale

Huge - A Huge mammal

Whale preparing for a deep dive

Going deep In...

Job Satisfaction Survey :-)

I really wonder what could be more (if I can really call?) stupid/illogical; mildly saying time consuming than Job Satisfaction Surveys. I also wonder "Who gains?" (a few HR firms?) or "Who looses?" in these time wastage games but then everything; good and not-so-good; have a purpose so the world is not going to change and there will be these surveys conducted every now and then. And then my (and many like me) expectations as an employee are also never going to change as well.

As an employee I (do and will) always desire*:
a) Salary of a CEO or equivalent;
b) Power of a president, prime minister or equivalent
c) Vacation/Travel time of a teacher or equivalent
d) Freedom of a freelance journalist/blogger or equivalent
+
f) Fame of a sports/movie star or equivalent
...
....
......

And as an employee I (am and will) always likely to get:
a) Salary of a teacher or equivalent
b) Power of a freelance Journalist/blogger --> You can write whatever but does anyone care? does it really impact?
c) Fame of an un-famed or de-famed politician --> Be unheard for most of the times. Worst still, become famous for all wrong reasons.
d) Freedom of of a CEO --> Freedom given with an unambiguous and non flexible goal to stretch the stock value to a new level all the time; not to forget the 24x7 commitment.

To me, as one of my colleagues had described JOB will always stand for "Just Obey Boss" with two universal set of rules:
Rule 1: Your boss is always right.
Rule 2: If your boss is wrong; refer to Rule 1.

The only emancipation from this vicious cycle obviously is one's own enterprise and time needs to be opportune for the same. Well, eagerly waiting for such time...

I quite very well know that I am airing the opinion just before getting into another Job Hunt :-)
___________________________________
* There was a Joke floating around on Internet encapsulating what can be termed as The Best and Worst Life. It summed up the best life comes with
a) An American salary
b) European House
c) Chinese Food
and d) An Indian wife.

and the most avoidable combination is:
a) An Indian Salary
b) Chinese House
c) European Food
and d) An American wife

Aerial Photography...

In Leuven-Belgium, you will encounter some guys who are crazy about "Aviation Photography". They travel all over the world to do nothing but the take closer and better pictures of airplanes, preferably fighter jets.

I love those pictures too and I also like "Aerial Photography", where you are in a cozy flight, sipping a glass of wine or munching on a mouth watering gourmet and let the shutter do the job. The sole necessary criterion for this kind of photography is the window seat and once you have it you have all the reasons to go berserk.

Here are some pictures from the recent Chicago - Brussels Journey, a journey that started with a marvelous dusk and ended up with an astounding dawn. Here are the glimpses...

Sunset Arial Photos

Dawn Arial Photos

Eco Terrorism in Valencia

Having been to an impressive Jardin Del Turia, a day earlier I was even more impressed to hear this inspiring story during the Walking Tour Of Valencia (A must-do guided tour by Johny from Liverpool).

Valencia has been an inspiring town with ancient and sound irrigation system since 1000AD and encircling river Turia used to act as a river protecting Valencia against the enemies. But, during the recent past since nobody was scared about an enemy invasion, the establishment in Valencia decided to turn around the riverbed to benefit the irrigation to the other parts of Spain and intended to build a huge motor way at the site of river bed. But, the residents of Valencia were against the motorway as they wanted to turn the riverbed into garden or anything equivalent leading to the development of a lot of clashes between the establishment and the residents.

Not paying heed to the residents, the establishment decided to move ahead with the plan and started the construction of the motorway. Bewildered residents were appalled but did not know how to protest against the establishment for a while. The momentum soon gathered pace and the residents used Eco Terrorism (may be a term coined by Johny) as a tool to stage their demands. What residents did was truly inspiring. They started coming to the river bed site in large numbers and kept on planting trees. The establishment resisted vehemently by uprooting the trees for a long while but the residents did not give up. Voluntarily they used to arrive at the site, sometimes during the wee hours during the night to plant trees and vanish. Residents were simply irresistible and soon the establishment was led to no option but to give up.

Today, the establishment not only proudly maintains the garden but also has extended it for the amusement of residents and tourists alike. The garden boasts a lot of football courts, athletic stadium, jogging tracks along with botanical garden on one end and an all time great City of Arts and Science on the other. Certainly all these are must visit places in Valencia...

_________________________________________________

'll upload photos later; upon reaching Leuven.

The New Love...

I remember these moments quite vividly. Two years earlier, in 2008, she arrived from the shores across Atlantic and I was ecstatic to explore the world through her eyes. I was juvenile to the foray, a complete novice and she provided an enigmatic company to all the places I visited. I distinctively remember my first journey to Heidelberg, Rudhesheim and Frankfurt along the Rhine river and inspired since then I carried her all over Europe. Watching the world through her eyes, carefully holding her every now and then was an experience in itself and buoy! she provided some of the most astonishing views of all the most precious landscapes.

During the trip to the Canary Islands last Christmas though, the relationship accidentally turned around. Busy hunting the hearts along the serene beaches, I probably could not handle her with care for a moment and the fall inside the car resulted into misalignment that is far from being aligned till today. Somethings are too delicate and too difficult to repair; or rather better left un-repaired. I believe to have tried all I could and have been a zilch lucky so far...

Needless to say, some relationships die mysterious deaths and one has to move on and I am obeying just that rule as I am set out to explore California through My New Love, Tamron 18-250mm. The itinerary is tentatively set (Nappa Valley or a bike tour to Muirwoods, Whale watching cruise, Alcatraz tour along with Sanfrancisco) for the next 3 and a half days. She could be here any moment and I am eagerly waiting for her arrival in the Holiday Inn, SanFrancisco lobby. Let the new journey begin...

Polar Light Dream!!!

The stage is set and the players are ready. The day we all have been waiting for has arrived and today we embark our Scandinavian adventure dreaming to catch the glimpses of mystique Aurora Borealis. The plan is to visit Kiruna and Abisko is Sweden and we have an enviable itinerary to be accomplished:

0. Sledgedog
1. Mobile Snow Scooter
2. Cross country ski
3. Reindeer ride
4. Ice Hotel
5. Hike in the snow
6. Iglu Stay (if possible and is not possible for a PhD student :p)
7. Ice fishing (if possible)
8. (and last but never the least) Aurora Borealis

The first seven could be planned yet the trip objective of the trip can only be accomplished if and only if we catch the glimpses of mystique aurora. Message from across the border and my next door neighbor is that as a traveler everything one wishes comes true and as a true nomad I am willing to wish anything and everything (Health, Love, wealth and time to enjoy them and whatever else you long for) for you. All I wish that you all pray for all of us who will fight tooth nail against extreme weather conditions, burning the midnight oil looking for Aurora, Aurora and Aurora...

Sparkling Garmisch with mavericks: Part III - The Sights

"Human by its very nature is in the race with nature. Nature throws new challenges all the time and slowly but steadily human wins over them only to give rise to new ones. Whatever human builds or conquers, he will always be inspired and motivated by nature and the race will continue forever" GuruDeFundae :p "What I would love to see is human being complementing the nature and both stay in harmony forever."

Lakes amidst mountain peaks with boat reflections

Very few places on the planet would have such clean (and green) water

Human creation on the lake with trees in the background

Garmisch-Partenkirchen had plenty of natural and manmade things to keep us motivated all along. As we were approaching the region through winding highways surrounded by mesmerizing peaks, I was dreaming about the beauty of the region with the snowclad mountains in the winter. In addition to visiting beautiful manmade castles, we visited the highest point on the German-Austrian border Zugspitze. The Austrian and German border crosses right on the peak of the mountain and with clear weather one can sight Austria, Germany, Swiss and Italy from atop. Hari could even spot his next destinaton Iceland and waved at Iceland saying,"Iceland, I am coming..."

The top of Zugspitze has the highest internet point in the world and with the recent news from Nasa that the austranauts are now able to tweet from the space, the limits will be pushed higher and chased better.

Lake view from the top of Zugsptize

Man conquering natural obstacles?

Highest Church in Germany/Austria. Can you spot newly weds?

The breathtaking views from atop from Zugspitze are simply inexplicable and should be experienced by one and all. Specially the view of the lake and the cliff from the top were simply irresistable. The highest church is one of the famous spots for the couples to get married and I once again felt for the loss of companion. But then knots are tied in heaven and not on Zugspitze...

Sparkling Garmisch with mavericks: Part II - The Castles

If you are in Bombay and you can't sight a Vadapav/Pavbhaji stall, rest assured that you are out of Bombay. If you are in Chennai, and you can't sight a temple along the road side or a crossing, rest assured you are out of Chennai. And if you are in Europe and you can't sight a castle built by a King or knight or any other richer of the richest in any province, rest assured you are out of Europe. In fact, castles in Europe are like Turkish Kebap shops -- they are everywhere - quite ubiquitous. While staying in Europe or traveling across it, you can hardly ignore these grandeur structures and specially the gardens associated with most of them. To add to the grandeurness, each of these structures have a rich history behind them and every European state "Basking in the History" preserves and displays it very well.

Frauenchiemsee has a small castle in an island

Herrenchiemsee -- A castle inspired by Chetau De Verssailles

Yellow Castle of Ludwig's dad

Garmisch-Partenkirchen follows no different rule and ostentatiously displays all the castles in the province very proudly. The region Bavaria is not only famous for its beer (e.g. Munich beer festival) but also has a lot of castles around it. While a trip to all the castles in the region would consume at least a month, we had a plan to visit the most famous ones, specially the ones' built by mad King Ludwig. Now, King Ludwig is considered mad and possibly this madness forced him to build these unnecessary yet eye-pleasing structures one after the other. But then, I kept on wondering what madness forces us to pay our money and time to see others' wealth? Absolutely ridiculous, isn't it? After a lot of brain storming though, I have come to consensus that most of us (atleast me) visit these grand places to pay our homage to the stupendous work of art that is on display. Behind the name of any King/Queen or Lord (Ludwig or whoever) we aim to discover the face of an artist, admire his/her creation and inspire from it. Any other views on this are welcome.

Dad's castle overlooking the town

Neuschwanstein Disney castle: One of those night photography attempts

Neuschwanstein Disney castle with a mystique background

The most famous castle in Bavaria is the Disney castle Neuschwanstein but the other two Herrenchiemsee and Frauenchiemsee were worth visiting as well. The yellow castle in Neuschwanstein is the castle of Ludwig's Father and was beautiful too. In my observation, during ancient times in Europe, most of the Kings' and knights' were stung by madness and went on rampage building castles and other structures one after the other. The originator of this madness was probably the French King Louis XIV who built a revolutionary Chetau De Verssailles. This revolutionary castle apparently led to the French revolution and you know the exact reason for revolt, the minute you step in one of the bedrooms or dining rooms or just the foyer of the palace.

On a positive side though it was an inspiration to most of the art works that followed in Europe and may be around. Not surprisingly most of the castles are very very beautiful and are worth every visit. The other visit to Bavaria place won't go waste at all as there is a lot left to see. As an example, we could not sight Neuschwanstein from inside for the lack of time. Winter is the best time to visit to this place of the world for skii amongst other things but the calander is packed for this winter so hopefully next one or may be later...may be...just may be....

Sparkling Garmisch with mavericks: Part I - The mavericks

In Leuven, the week goes fast and weekend? Well, only faster!!! Honestly, those who find Leuven boring must have nothing to do in their life :-) Being at the center of Europe, it's a very convenient place to plan trips all over and I have followed two simple rules to entertain myself:

Rule No. 1. Never spend a long weekend in Leuven.
Rule No. 2. Every weekend is a long weekend :-)

And the fall out of these rules has been some incredible trips to very spectacular spots in and around Europe and when you are in such a travel hungry mode, many a times you do not have adequate planning* to back you up but all you do is just pack your bags and set out for a predetermined venue. Most of the prominent place have Tourist information centers and all things fall in place leading to a very fruitful stay. It's really that simple and here are a few words about some International participants who believed in the philosophy and decided to pack their bags on this unplanned trip to Garmisch-Partenkirchen on a real long 21-24th May '09 weekend:

Amir (The Schumaker): The usual Chai partner from Iran turned Schumaker - the mercurial driver for all of us. Although others had valid licenses to drive in our respective countries, none of us has an European license eligible to drive in Europe. While all of us could only tender our moral support, Amir had to bear all the load to drive upon himself. With sleeping Guru (can sleep anytime anywhere) and red bull for his company he drove us all through Belgium, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg on the way back. "Recalculating! Recalculating!!!", the irritating words of the GPS lady could hardly piss him off and in all seriousness, we would not have moved an inch without our Messiah during the entire stretch of 2200kms. But, most striking fact was that after all the driving effort, he was invariably the first to wake us all up early in the morning to gear up for the day and meet our schedule.

Hari (The Travel Giant): Here is a Singaporean^ who motivates me for all the travel I am doing in and around Leuven. Imagine, this travel giant has been to 26-27 countries, probably even more than his age and with the passion he inculcates it's difficult if not impossible to beat him. I have already given up my chase :-( What strikes me the most though is not the number but the choice of places he travels to. He already has made his effort to witness Northen Polar Lights, the world wonder Aurora Borealis in Scandinavia. has set his foot steps in Latvia and Lithuania and also smallish Lichtenstein. has wondered around Egypt exploring Pyramids and temples. But probably the best of all has been to an exotic trip to Iceland and after all the planning he took all of us to another exotic place Canary Islands...

Lei (The Summa-cum-Laude): "I like...I like...", Lei kept on displaying her interests one after the other. "Flowers... I like, I like... lakes... I like, I like... Snow... I like, I like...."and the list goes on and on and on... "Is there anything that she does not like?", you start to wonder looking at an ever effervescent Lei. As you keep wondering, probably she keeps pondering about the assignment to be submitted/presentation to be prepared for the next week/month/year. Always focussed on things at hand, I did not take long to admire and appreciate why she is the Summa-cum-Laude of the class, a stupendous achievement indeed. For those who have more or less believed and obeyed minting the midnight Oil ahead of most of the exams, staying focussed all through the semester is an unknown virtue. But then some guys pass the course while others learn through the course and that's the key difference. Lei, to me, genuinely creates this difference in a positive way...

Group Picture in a Bedroom De Royale

Such an enthusiastic group meant the entire trip would be memorable for sure. Garmisch Partenkirchen is indeed one of the most exotic destinations on the German Austrian Border. Three castles (Herrenchiemsee, Frauenchiemsee and the famous Disney castle Neuschwanstein) built by (a mad) King Ludwig and the highest peak in Germany Zugspitze were the destinations of attraction. Catch more about sightseeing in this beautiful part of the world in the next part-II...

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* The city centers at the railway stations or city centers all over Europe have a Tourist Information Office and you can always plan your trip after reaching the venue. In my experience, I have not missed much on the way. Moreover, planning could be done sacrificing your work time and I am deadly against it. Work I believe has its own importance to maintain the equilibrium in life and I love to maintain it this way.

^ I call him Singaporean here only to give a true International flavor to the trip. He vehemently resisted it when I called him Singaporean for the first time. After knowing him for a while now, I have to take my words back. But then I soon realized that he calls himself Fifty-Fifty :-)

New Year's Walking Resolution

Chris Thomas, an entrepreneur from Bangalore is firm on his resolution to shed weight and stay healthy through walking: bangalore-man-plans-a-long-walk-to-lose-weight

His goal is to walk a stretch of 350kms from Bangalore to Chennai in a week, an arduous task indeed. The activity would certainly demand lots of heart and courage. To imagine the magnitude at stake, I personally must have walked around 450kms during all hikes in 2009 including 100km dodentocht in a day and Chris aims to finish the most of my yearly plan in a week of the calendar year, simply stupendous!!!

Even Our 100km walk looks a bit minuscule in front Chris's magnum opus. To frame an analogy: 350kms in a week literally sounds like Test Cricket when compared to our One Day dodentocht.

Wish you all the Luck Chris!!!