फूलों की घाटी (Valley of Flowers) Trip -- Day: 1

18-July-2015

Background:

Had been to Nainital - Kausani - Ranikhet during Jun-2011.  Was mesmerized by the Himalayas, snow clad mountains & the greenery (forest) there.

Valley of Flowers trip was pending since 2013:

-- 2013, there was devastation (आपदा) in Uttarakhand, due to heavy rains.  We had our Bangalore - Delhi flight tickets booked but had to cancel it as there was no way to go beyond Delhi.

-- 2014, I again attempted but Valley was closed as one of bridge connecting Valley to Ghangria was not yet open.
---- We went up to Delhi but had to change our plan to: Dalhousie - Dharamshala - Manali

---- Manali to Rohtang-pass & the glaciers there was again an impressive stretch.

-- 2015, finally things were falling in like & I could make this trip & what a trip it was, simply "amazing".

-- Glad that Dnyanesh decided to join me for this Valley-of-Flowers Trek.  He is the best "company" that one can have.  Always smiling, always happy & biggest thing is always cracking "practical" jokes.

---- About 6 weeks early, we started preparation for the trek.
---- Dnyanesh made a nice check-list of items to carry, like: diff kind of clothing, back-pack, food, medicine.
---- He also did a lot of googling & studied feedback from earlier travelers + instructions provided by diff tour operators.
---- We were keeping a tab on the weather as well & praying that both Sun & Rain god blesses our trip.

---- To verify our stamina, we did a trek to Nandi Hill on one Saturday evening.  Nandi Hill is our own hill-station, for Bengalurians.  We went to the base, parked our car there & started climbing the hill on foot.  It took is 2+ hrs to cover 8 KM.  I actually did 3 such attempts on 3 subsequent week-ends.
***Honestly, this 8 KM distance + the elevation of about 550 meters, proved to be very amateur compared to what was in store for us. 

Itinerary:

Day	From	To	Distance	Mode	Elevation	Elevation
					Meters	Feet
Day-1	Bangalore	Delhi	2172 KM	Flight	216	709
	Delhi	Haridwar	220 KM	Train	250	819
Day-2	Haridwar	Govindghat	295 KM	By Road	1,828	5,997
Day-3	Govindghat	Ghangaria	13 KM	1st Trek	3,049	10,003
Day-4	Ghangaria	Valley of Flowers & back to Ghangaria	6 KM	2nd Trek	3,352 to 3,658	10,995 to 12,000
Day-5	Ghangaria	Valley of Flowers & back to Ghangaria	12 KM	3rd Trek	3,352 to 3,658	10,995 to 12,000
Day-6	Ghangaria	Hemkund Saheb & back to Ghangaria	12 KM	4th Trek	4,633.00	15,200
Day-7	Ghangaria	Govindghat & to Badrinath & back to Govindghat	13 KM + 74 KM	5th Trek + By Road	1,828	5,997
Day-8	Govindghat	Haridwar + evening at Haridwar	295 KM	By Road	250	819
Day-9	Haridwar	Full day at Haridwar	--	--	--	--
Day-10	Haridwar	Delhi	220 KM	Train	216	709
	Delhi	Bangalore	2172 KM	Flight	920	3020

Uttarakhand Govt Map for "Char-Dham-Yatra"

Day-1:

Airline rescheduled my Bangalore - Delhi flight & made it leave 45 min early.  Had to start 4 AM from home.  The road was clear.  Taxi took 15 min to reach Hebbal (11 KM) & 25 form Hebbal to Airport (31 KM).

As soon as I got out of the Airplane at Delhi, even though the temp was told to be 29 C, I started sweating.  It was very humid outside.

Was surprised to see the Airport Metro service operational.  There is a shuttle bus form Terminal 1 of Delhi Airport to the nearest Airport Metro Station.  Its an AC bus it they charge रु 30/-.  Every 10 - 15 min there is a bus.

Our Train to Haridwar was at 3:30 PM.  We took the Airport Metro up to New Delhi Railway Station & kept our luggage at the Cloak Room.  Spent 3 hrs roaming at Connaught Place (CP) & came back to Railway Station.  We had one more group with trek back-packs in our train compartment.  Upon inquiring got to know that they were from Thane & were also heading for Valley-of-Flowers like us.

Jan Lokpal & Team Anna are still very much relevant !

We in Karnataka have seen the effectiveness of Lokayuakta

- BSY, as we refer to Karnataka x-CM, cannot be compared with Bal Thakre & Narendra Modi. He is a different individual.
-- He has build BJP in Karnataka over last several years & is worth a CM. People respect him for that.
-- Both BJP & RSS, at one time, had no choice but to use Reddy brothers for their power & money they have.
-- Indirectly, Sushma Swaraj’s power struggle at center also played a role.
-- Finally, BSY made a few bad decisions by allowing his sons a free hand & got involved into relatively small issue compared to some BIG goonda we have in Karnataka politics like the Deve Gowda family.
-- But he had to resign !!!


- Lokayuata police conduct raids on many babus & unearth a lot of black money.
-- These babus do not get punished due to their political bosses is a diff thing.
-- But these raids were also not possible 4 – 5 yes back. The system evolves over a period of time & there is no silver bullet.


- Santosh Hedge has a HUGE respect in Karnataka.
-- And he is also a part of the Anna Team & was also member who drafter “Jan Lokpal”.
-- His credentials are simply unquestionable.


- Then there are 2 BIG time lawyers in Team Anna, Bhushan father & son. They are definitely not joke.


- Nobody from Team Anna ever claimed that “Jan Lokpal” is THE solution for corruption in India, this is one of the tools.


- We need more ppl like Kiran Bedi & Kajriwal, who are the “executers” for this movement.
-- Anna is the face, Santosh Hegde & Bhushans are the brains & these 2 are “executers”.
-- Same like Project Managers (PjMs) in any organisation. PjMs are not the best technical minds, but they know how to get work done.


I’m convinced that movements like this are needed to take future India in the correct direction & I strongly support these & will continue to support. Not because of Anna, but because of the CAUSE.


- Otherwise, the central govt, irrespective of any party, would have not brought even this version of Lokpal to parliement.
-- It got done only because of the efforts of Team Anna over last 1 year.
-- Still long way to go & Dear Anna, we are with you.

Imam Bukhari did you take money from Congress ???

I had anticipated this but was surprised that this view was not expressed for last 2 - 3 days. Actually I felt happy that Muslims have started identifying with the anti-curruption movement without bothering about these "small" issues. But I guess the happyness was short-lived :-(. Or Congress succeeded is BUYING Imam saheb.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bukhari-calls-stir-anti-Islam-tells-Muslims-to-stay-away/articleshow/9690525.cms

This is just WRONG. This is Mr. Bukhari's interpretation of Islamic text. How can any religion, for that matter anybody "condone" or not-allow worship of the "mother" ?

I would love to believe that all my Muslim friends say -- "enough Mr. Bukhari", we do not want to follow "your" interpretation of Islam because it is subjective based on who gave you money...

STOP "meal vouchers" like Ticket Restaurent, Sodexo, etc

Consider the cycle:

• Employer has to buy these Meal Voucher from companies like Sodexo, by paying a commission.
• Employee has to use it for food purchase. Many employees bring food from home. So these Meal Vouchers are being used to buy things from Malls / Shops.
• By law these Meal Vouchers should be used only to buy food items but many Malls / Shops accept for buying soap, perfume, brooms, etc. I mean for almost everything.
• Now the shop guy has to collect these Meal Vouchers & return it to the company like Sodexo to get his money back. Sodexo charges him commission.

Now think again ? Who benifited the above transaction ? Employer ? Employee ? Shop / Mall owner ?

• No, only companies like Sodexo. They got comission for circulating the Meal Vouchers from end-to-end.

I was in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand last week. No IT company there. But I was shocked to see a few shops with the sticker that they accept Meal Voucher !

LIC has started a policy. Every employee who come to office before 10:30 AM gets a Meal Voucher of Rs. 150/- for that day. If an employee comes late, he / she looses the mean Voucher for that day.

• Athey crazy ? There are some 3000+ branches of LIC all-over-india.
• Is this a plan for companies like Sodexo to spread their business to all small towns ?

Mind it ! This has become a BIG BIG economy in all metro cities like: Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, etc.

• Neighborhood "kirana" shops have started charging 6% comission if you have to use the Meal Voucher.
• Or you have to go to the neareast Big Bazaar by spending Rs. 50/- for Auto to use the Meal Voucher.
• Now Big Bazaar knows that you will be using Meal Voucher & has increased the price of the items to adjust for the comission that Big Bazaar has to pay to Sodexo.
• You & me, we end up paying extra so that Sodexo makes money.

But the entire issue has a simple solution:

Income Tax India rule shoudl be amended saying Rs. 50/- per meal is tax exempted & thus every employee should get additional tax exemption of Rs. 3000/- per month or Rs. 36000/- per year.

• Is this very difficult to calculate while we calculate our yearly tax ?
• Same way, the employer also gets its 5% tax exemption in the yearly calculations.

THINK ! How much of paper will this country save ? How much of "waste" of money will we save ?

SUPPORT this & help me to spread the same. Pass this to ALL your friends.

Next -- an on-line petition to Finance Minister asking him to review this policy. If this does not work a PIL in Supreme Court of India.

Lets FIGHT & STOP this "waste" !!!

Rahul Gandhi, you should have not done this !

It is good if WiKiLeaks & RaidaGate happens once in 4 - 5 years. Gives a chance to normal citizens to have an overview about how our elected representatives work & how they take us for ride.

- Rahul Gandhi's comments about "Hindu Terror" are definately something he should have avoided 100%.
- During UPA 1 the impression was building up that Congress is doing good & can deliver in future as well + Ragul as an individual as some "substance".
- But UPA 2 looks like a downward. Rahul also not thinking on his own. His remarks show that he (& his friends) have no confidence in handeling their own internal situation.

Leave apart the religious sentiments, today it is proven beyong doubt that Al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) & all their brother & sister organisations are the epicenter or terror or axis-of-evil. These organisations are involved in 100s & 1000s of killings world over. And Rahul Gandhi is more worred about a few incidents where a few Hindus has been chargesheeted, not convicted yet ? Not that they should not be punished guilty, they should be definately as per the law-of-the-land. But calling it more dangerous then LeT indicates you do not trust your own people. + telling thsi to a USA guy is mroe rediculus. Shows who is more important for you, us or they ? And Rahul is our next PM-in-waiting ?

NO NEVER.

Kashmir (J & K & Ladakh) -- the "Interlocuters" -- Ms. Roy -- and of course me !

As a common man & as an Indian, this is what I feel about the latest "Interlocuter" & "azadi" episode:

Interlocuter ? I wondered what it means & this is what Wikipedia says "is a person who informally explains the views of the Govt and also can relay messages back to the Govt"

Dileep Padgaonkar (well known journalist) is a learned & mature person. The 1st thing he says is, Pakistan's involvement is necessary. I agree 100% because that is the ground reality, Pakistan is paying huge money to keep the fire buring in Kashmir. This is what Mr. Ram Jethmalani says (Times of India, 31-Oct-10). But to acknolodge this as the 1st item, is it Govt of India's view ? Is it like a "good point to start" ? Why do we always shoot ourselves in the foot & give an edge to others to make advantage out of it ?

Radha Kumar (academician), came up with a possible interpretion of Indian constitution that "azadi" is ok & can be added to it now. Is this not very easy ? Did the whole nation miss it fo last 62 yrs ince 1948, when Pakistan started the war (direct & indirect) ? Why don't we just do it (like break it) & get rid of the problem ? Like serving a hand or a leg if it catches gangrene (Wikipedia) ? Is this what Indian solders are defending for last 5 - 6 decades & such huge money spent ?
-- No Kashmir (J & K & Laddhak) is an injury but definately not infection or dead tissues.
-- It was, it is & it will remain integral part of India.
-- And yes, it is easy to talk about plebiscite (or referendum), when you have driven a sizable population of "Kashmiri Pandits" out of their motherland & I'm sure equal no of Muslims have also migrated to other parts of India to save themselves from constant trouble. Does a referendum makes sence ?

M M Ansari (Information Commissioner), who is he & where is he ? Is he in this pannel just because he is a well known & learned Muslim ?

I mean any of the above, are they experts on Kashmir ? Are they experts about Indian Constitution ? Have they studied Kashmir ? Or they are just eminent persons who are messagners appointed by Govt of India ?
-- Then do they talk "for" Govt of India ? In that case does Govt of India think "azadi" is ok after 62 yrs of struggle & death of many many soldiers & many more civilians from the vally ?
-- If the interlocuters do not talk "for" Govt of India, it means this is their personal openion, & in that case above questions about their experties should be answered.

Arundhati Roy (Wikipedia), should be a learned & mature leady. I assume so as she got a Booker Prize in 1997 for her book. So one known prize (for book) & she is qualified to take up any issue:
- Fight for Naxals
- Violation of Forest Laws
- Srilanka Govt's crackdown on LTTE
- Gujarath
- Linking 26/11 (Mumbai attack) to Kashmir
- Afzal the Indian Parliement attack fame
- Pokhran tests & big dams
- Sardar Sarover project
- And now Kashmir
--- I strongly feel should should be our Prime Minister. She knows anything & everything and probably has solution for all the above (& more) issues that we face as a Nation today. Such a waste of talent & time that she is spending in writing books.
--- I sincerely feel this is either beyond human, that she is a jem or she likes the publicity in the time of so many 24x7 news channels. I'm inclined to later & good if we just start taking Ms. Roy at her "face value".

Kashmir (Jammu & Ladakh), and finally the main subject, what went wrong ? Upto a few (2 - 3) yrs back it seemed like Kashmir is coming back to normalcy after state elections a few times. Why did we let this normalcy slip & gave any advantage to the "seperatists" ? Is Abdullah Family blackmailing Govt of India ? They are getting support even if they can not handle internal state administration peroperly. Is Mr Omar Abdullah competent enough or he is there as he is friend of Rahul Gandhi ?
-- Does everybody in Kashmir need "azadi" ? The Jammu & Ladakh population ? The Kashmiri pandits including ?
-- And what will Kashmir do after becoming "azad" ? Get into Pakistan ? As it Pakistan is living on USA thrown dollers, it is called aid, will the Kashmiris get a better life in Pakistan ? I'm sure the Kashmiri aam janata knows this better.

Sohrabuddin - Common Wealth Games - Kashmir a nice political use-case !

Warning: a longer post

1> Sohrabuddin-CBI-Amit Shah
2> Increase in petrol prices & inflation
3> Commonwealth Games
4> Tension in Kashmir vally

All the above are related events & everybody in Delhi, both ruling & opposition, are making use of it for their personal gains. Lets take it 1-by-1:

Sohrabuddin was not a saint, not a normal (or common) man either, rather a criminal, extortanist & at times anti-Indian. CBI has many similar cases in its pocket where it is keeping quiet rather being asked to. But this 1 is nicely being used to put BJP on back-foot on the price-rise agenda.

On its part BJP & rest of the opposition knows that the recent price hike in Petrol is justified & long pending & the UPA-2 has no choice. But they are in opposition & they have to .

UPA-2 is also sounding arrogant after being voted 2nd time with bigger margin then UPA-1. Central ministers shouting at each other: Mr. Iyer at CWG, Digvijai at Chidambaram & so on. Both Iyer & Digvijai definately have backing of their bosses. So how many boss are there in Delhi ?

There is BIG time "void" in delhi of a "leadership" to take India to the next level. None of the parties, ruling or opposition has an answer to this.
-- Dr. Manmohan Singh is a respectable economist & that is it. He is not a mass leader. It is not his mistake, this is what he is.
-- Madam is the head of UPA & again just the head, with very limited access (or interest) to the aam-admi.
-- Rahul loosk promising, but needs time, we should not make 1 more Rajeev out of him. But we need him & his team of 2nd generation.
-- BJP, Advani looked desperate to be a PM. 2nd level is fighting among themselves & arrogance is seen here. Sushma S, Anant K, Arun J, etc .. none have pan-India appeal & they will not allow anybody to take lead.
-- Atalji has done his job & should not be brought into all this at all now.
-- UP, Bihar, TN, etc .. the smaller UPA partners are just regional & not intereasted to spread out of their state at all. Rather they are not expected to do so. They better try & run their states effectively 1st.
-- Communists & Mamata .. are becominjg more & more narrow-minded for Kolkotta. They eat-drink-sleep Kolkotta. It cannot get worst than this. They have reached a point that they take it granted to "kill" each other :-(
-- RSS, last in the list, is also experimenting with its caders. They spend last 60+ yrs doing ground work & succeeded the Ram Temple movement. But luck was not with them & thay missed ruling India with "absolute" majority.

Now coming back to the relation among the above events, the UPA-2 is busy fighting Modi as if that is the only thing left for a "majority" central govt. How could they not sense, of feel, or judge what is in store ? I'm not sure if PM or UPA chief are capable of this & has the required foresight :-(. Is UPA running a company with Madam as CEO & PM as COO ? Then this is the worst times we are going through. Running a capitalist company & running a nation is definately not the same. We can not comittes to run nation. We need leaders who can sence the pulse of our own people & of our neighbors. We need visionaries.

We need to & should handle the Kashmir issue ASAP. We need to get-into-Kashmir & into Kashmiri "janata's" mind & harts. Kashmir is INDIA & will remain an integral part of INDIA. All INDIANs are proud for this & will always support this cause. Both CRPF & BSF has jawans & officers from all over the country serving in Kashmir & sacrificing their lives for the cause of protecting this land & its citizens from the Pakistan induced & sponsored terrorists.

It is un-imaginable to think of what will happen to Kashmir if it becomes part of Pakistan. The Kashmiri janata should take a realistic view of what is the conditions of "Mujahirs" in today's Pakistan. The so called seperatist leaders, should think of the situation like a managemnt case-study of what will be the future of Kashmir in Pakistan. As of now Pakistan is heavily struggling to keep its folks together & Kashmir is the "ultimate" issue to keep the aam Pakistani janata diverted from the military-mis-managed Pakistan.

1> Central govt should pull its socks & stand behind the Kashmir state govt & the CM.
2> Same for CWG, we need to punish the guilty & make them pay for their mis-deeds, but we need to make the games a success in the 1st place. We have to continue with Kalmadi & make sure this the CWD is a success.

Everybody else, including the opposition "has to" support these efforts. Of-course the amm admi wishes the above 2 things to be "success" & is wishing a "good luck" for the administrators to handle this early & effectively.

Shashi Tharoor minus IPL ??

Tharoor sans twitter, OSD & IPL -- a successful MoS (Rediff)

I guess all of us will agree that Tharoor is a good "new age" leader. Even Twitter that he used is a new age communication mechanism.

See what TED has to say about him & his talk in favour of "soft power" & its influence. Actually 1 of my Finnish friend passed this TED link to me :-). Listen to him carefully, choice of words & emphasis of important points & delivery of the speect, simply great !

My reaction during DEC 2009 was:
-- He is good. He is “new kind” of politician in India who has seen the world & has lots of experience.
-- But probably more out-ward focusing person & he has to learn to see in-ward to the nuances this country has at grass-root level.
-- But we need him & many more like him who bring out-ward looking perspective to the Govt. Otherwise our “default” politicians always go to a line “they do what their voters need” & do not bother about rest of the world.

Now fast-forward to IPL 2010:

-- I guess it was ok that he used his influence to move the new IPL team to Kerala. The episode showed that he is ready to jump to extra-curricular activities. I mean other then being a white-color minister.

-- But it also shows that he was not abel to handle (or I would say "hide") the other connections, to be specific his friend.

Again this looks to be a new age politics, bold & clear!!!

We know for sure that there are 100s of MLAs & MPs in INDIA who have "connections" & they use influence to get thinsg done in their favour, even kill innocent for their gain. But then they do it the traditionla way that we Indians are used to, by hiding things.

I guess Tharoor need to learn this. The mass in India is ok (or I would say "used-to) if the leaders are doing "ghapla" only that it should be under wraps.

We of-course need leaders like Shashi Tharoor to be around. I would say, Rahul Gandhi, Jindal, Sachin Pilot, Nitin Gadkari, Mohan Bhagwat, etc. We need "new age" leaders in all the camps, ruling & opposition. With new ideas & new ways of working.

RSS in social sector !

Diggy meets PC over RSS in social sector (TOI, 8-May-2010)

This is good ! I would say best !! Thanks Mr. Digvijay Singh for making it official that RSS is doing a very good work.

As you updated to Mr Home Minister, some of the RSS related NGOs are getting funding from Govt. This is an indication that RSS is working for a real cause & does not have any proxy agenda.

Mr. Digvijay Singh, your own state of MadhyaPradesh is a very good example where RSS is working for last 10+ yrs in the trible areas & have successifully stopped conversion by Christians by paying money.

Now do not hunt these NGOs just because they are related to RSS. I'm sure you or Mr. PC or the Congress or the Christian money, nobody can stop RSS from doing good work at the grass root level. The "pracharak" concept created by RSS has no match & they are the foot solders who are burning their blood to bring this transformation.

Kudos to RSS & its sister organisations for this !!!

Calrton Tower, Bangalore fire & 1 more bad coverage by TV media :-(

Very very serious issue :-(

Something has to be done for the TV channel folks, they are running any dam footage with no brains approach.

-- imagine the kids at home, seeing all this through-out the day, 1 guy or a girl jumping off a 6th or 7th floor to save his or her life & dying instantly :-(

-- do we remember, the images of a cop bleeding to death in TN, about 2 months back ? he was attached by underworld as mistaken identity. The TV channel had all the time to shoot the video & also comment how the ministers & collector did not help the police constable & left him dying. What was the dam TV guy doing ? Why did he not pickup a dying human being & rushed him to hospital ?

I would say the old Doordarshan days were better. Now we have the other extreme where the Mumbai firing images were live broadcasted to the controllers in Pakistan.

This should stop some where -- TV NEWS channels are compromising national security & by showing such BLOODY footage again & again, making our next generation less & less sensitive :-((

Food street (Thindhi Street), V V Puram, Bangalore

"Food-Street" or "Khau Galli" or "Thindhi Street" or "Old Market Road, Visvesvarapuram", call it anything. This is the best location to enjoy street-food. A fest for vegetarians. A place to hang-out with family & friends & enjoy the food. Delight for veg food lovers ! Butter-gulkand-with-ice-cream-and-fruits, I just canot resiste that test !! Many more items that pull me back to this street very often, with family.

We go there almost once-a-month. Uaually, Fri or Sat evenings & the place is always crowded. It is a one-way & no-parking street, mostly for pedestrians. But ocassionally, you can see cars parked & people eating from the cars & then of-course the traffic cops trying to shoo the parked vehicles off.

As with every street-food, the prices here are very reasonable & easy-on-the-wallet. The place looks traditional & old and looks like an evening-market kind of street. The shops & their specialities that I have tested so far:

* V V Bakery -- just at the entrance, on right-side -- a BIG bakery, looks old & traditional types -- sells lots of diff biscuit + bread + buns + cakes + pastries -- I would say a little expansive but I like the items.

* Ghee dosa / Butter dosa -- costs Rs. 20/- per piece, price same for plane & masala -- the guy literally pours Nandini Gheen to his dosas, directly fromt he 1 liter pack :-) -- simply delicious -- 1 very strong looking leady runs this place and her cash box is always overflowing -- I have seen it always crowded, 10 - 15 min waiting time.

* Paddu & Ginna -- this is just opp the ghee dosa shop -- they sell many more items like: idly, vada, dase. I have tried Paddu ("appe" in marathi) & Ginna (sweet made of the 1st few days milk after a cow or buffallo delivers her baby). Both items test very good.

* Gobi-Manchurian (live) stall -- better you do not see when the guy is deep frying the gobi (curly flower) -- but the final dish is good :-) -- on the adjacent stall I have seen "rumali-roti" as well.

* Pav-Bhaji & Vada-Pav -- I have not tested a better vada-pav then this in Bangalore, of-course, next to what Kalyani makes at home :-) -- there are 2 stalls side-by-side & both serve good pav-bhaji & vada-pav and at times kacchi-dabheli as well -- you should see, when the guy puts Amul butter to the pav, he literally dips the pav in butter. This makes it more tasty.

* Ragi-Roti & Rise-Roti -- this is next to the vada-pav stall, this guy sells ragi-roti with brinjal curry. Both roti & curry are good. You can try this different item. Behind this stall, there is a shade where they sell Idly & Dose. Very resonable price.

* Obbattu (Puran-Poli) -- costs Rs. 10/- per piece & is worth it. Simple thin obbattu made with "chana dal" filling.

* Gulkand with ice-cream & furits -- costs Rs. 40/- & more -- this is a shop on the left end of the street. he sells literally everythig: cigrates, coconut-burphy, masala-soda, masala-thumpsup, every kind of soda with masala, spicy bhel puri, sev puri, and masala puri , chips, small time chocolets. Simply amazing shop. But do not miss the Gulkand. It is stuffing but again worth.

* Sweet corn -- cost starts from Rs. 25/- onwards -- I donot know why it is called as American ? -- at the end of the street, you will find 2 or 3 push-carts, with impressive setup on it, battery operated radio & a small fan to stroke the fire in his charcoal pot, for frying the Sweet corn. They have 6 - 7 varieties: simple salt-lemon, butter, with raw-mango, with a green chutney, with pinapple, etc. Worther the money !

* Sweets -- gulab jamuns , rosogollas, jelebis, soft milky khoya, thick creamy basundi, various falvoured milk (kaser, badam, etc) & ice-creams.

* You also get -- potato, chilli, capsicum and banana bondas (bhajis) -- they sut the bonda & stuff it with a mix of grated carrot + onion + something :-). I could not dare to try this so far looking at the grated carrot in it but I'm sure it is feast. Lots of people (young & old) queue for it.

** Avarekai Mela (Festival) & check -- at "Sri Vasavi Condiments" -- just at the entrance on your left-side -- you can buy everythig avareki here: Dosa, Vada, Obbatu, Sambar, Rassam, etc. The shop sells

Location on various maps .. Wikimapia, Googlemaps, Yahoomaps, Ovimaps.

Note: I'll try to get some photos & also get the exact shop names & will update this post after my next visit to "khau-galli".

Varun ? BJP's new "youth" icon ??

Does the RSS see Varun Gandhi as a “saffron Rahul''?

With due respect to Mr. Varun Gandhi & both RSS & BJP bosses, I would like to believe this is just a sensational NEWS.

Varun may have the capabilities to be the "youth" icon for BJP but I guess, BJP will do a mistake by promoting him this way, at least at this time. This might create a confusion as the what way BJP want to go & I'm not sure if this is what RSS is asking BJP to do, go the hindu "goonda" way.

I would want to believe that 1 day (may be a few yrs. later) he really takes over Rahul Gandhi 1:1 for BJP. But then this needs to be managed (or I would engineered) very methodically keeping next 5 - 10 yrs. in mind.

ShashiTharoor twitting avout VISA !

http://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor .. "Hey there! ShashiTharoor is using Twitter !" .. I admire & respect this new age politician. He is the real Gen 'X' or 'Y' representative.

But I do not agree with his latest feed about the VISA regulations. Can he go & ask the USA Govt. to redice the BODY fresking or the latest (1 day old) additional regulations ? I guess he will find those justifying.

Same lines, I find the new VISA rules for India justifying. After all we have to take care of our problems & it is to be done our way.

Does UK or USA care if we ask them to reduce the sever checks that they do for granting VISA + the stringent regulations that they have ? I guess no, they would not bother.

Same way, if a person has to come to India for abusiness purpose & has to do multiple entries, he / she should obtain the correct VISA & not mis-use the "tourist" VISA. I guess that is all, no more discussions.

If this makes us "un-welcoming", yes, so be it & if tourists fell that they get a better experience in India, they will take the pain & gett he VISA. Same for business flyers, they do not come to India for charity, they come for business & for making money, then they should ask for correct Business VISA.

Google Maps showing Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir outside INDIA ?

This is totally unacceptable & bizzare. Google should not do politics. Arunachal Pradesh is very much part of independent INDIA. There is no dispute.

- English version in my browser is showing it as "not" in INDIA or "desputed" area
- Same for Jammu & Kashmir
- In Chinese version Arunachal Pradesh is shown as part of China

This is sad & not acceptabel at all.

MLAs in Karnataka should be ashamed !

It is really shameful that during the tough times of flood, the MLAs are giving more importance to "money" & "power" then to help their own voters by co-ordinating the relief work.

For last 2 weeks now, there is a BAD drama being played between Bangalore - Delhi - Bellari.

1. Couldn't the Reddy brothers wait till atleast the relief work is done & the affected voters are settled ?
2. Should one be always opportunistic ?
3. It is known that all the miners are just minting money by illegal enchroments on forest land. When they are earning lakhs with every over-loaded iron ore lorry, what is the issue of paying Rs. 1000/- that will go in re-building houses for the flood affected voters ?
4. Have our MLAs not evolved not to tolerate a women colleague in the ministry ?

Concept of mid-term-elections at this point is too -much to think of. This is clear case of an "insult" of the mandate that Karnatak population has given to BJP & a back-door possibility for the JD (S) to come to power & start making hawak :-(

It is just frustrating to see all what is happening.

Easy Cabe (43434343) are really easy !

This is my recent experience.

We (family: 2 Male + 2 Female + 1 kid) wanted to reach Yashantpur railway station from NGEF, Old Madras Road. Of-course with 6 - 7 luggage items. Take an auto & reach your destination. Sounds simple !

Not in Bangalore & definately not with the "auto" at all.

There are two auto stands near our complex, JalVayu Towers. Every auto was ready to come to Yashantpur but at his own cost which was Rs. 190/-. The distance is 17 KM max & by meter it costs Rs. 120/-. So a demand of Rs. 20/- extra is justified but not Rs. 70/-. At-least I do not understand for what reason they demand more. We wanted to 2 autos & tried a bargain of Rs. 350/- for 2 but no, they saw a chance to make money & were not bugging at all :-(. We had no choice, we hired them & did the journey from home to railway station in all noise & pollution & paid Rs. 380/-.

Now, the return journey, & the scene changes all-together:

• We are on our way back to Bangalore & train will terminate at Yahsvantpur.
• But we have learned our lession 7 days back. So 1 hr before approaching Yashvantpur, I call Easy Cabs (080-43434343).
• They take my request & tell me that they will confirm in 5 min if the arrangement is possible by SMS.
• In 5 min I get an SMS with cab no. & driver cell no.
• After reaching Yashvantpur railway station, I call the cab driver & patchup with him. Go out of the railway station & board the cab with 4 of us & our luggage.
• We have a comfortable & smooth journey from Yashvantpur Railway Station back to NGEF, Old Madras Road, in an AC cab, no noise, no pollution.
• Upon reaching the destination, the cab meter shows Rs. 250/- & the driver is happy to take his money & leave.
• No unpleasent talk of "saaar, give Rs. 20/- more then meter, you make lots of money".

So one way we paid Rs. 380/- & were exposed to noise & pollution + the unpleasent bargain. On way back, it was nice & smooth at the cost of Rs. 250/-.

I'm sure this should be the experience of every IT guy in Bangalore, some or other time. Why do auto drivers in Bangalore see "bakra" in every customer ? Are we IT guys making money without any work ? Are we making money at their cost ?

Imagine this happens to a guy / girl who is starting for a good work like interview or to see his girlfriend or to see his prospective bride or to go to a temple ? His / her event gets spoiled :-(.

I'm now a happy customer of Easy Cabs !

Sripuram, modern day temple ? New age Business ?

Sripuram (Golden Temple South, Vellore) appears to be a money making machine. A modern day business of faith. This is how it came across to me:

- Had herd about this form my friends & though of making a 1 day trip with family there. I was told to be there in the evening.
- Started at 8 AM, via old-madras-road, pass K R Puram. The road is good (managable) & small compared to the Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch. And reached Vellore by 1 PM. Had our lunch & headed towards Sripuram. On the way we spent about 1 hr at the Vellore fort.
- As we reached Sripuram, it appeared to be a fortress. Parked my car & this is where the encounter with the business machine started:

1. No mobile phones allowed inside.
2. Foot-ware stand is just a big hall & visitors (I' not sure if all were devotees) have to buy a plastic bag for Rs. 2/- to keep foot-ware of all the family together.
3. When I tried to reason this with the Public Relation (PR) officer, he appeared very very arrogent.
4. He told me that the temple is some 1 & 1/2 yrs. old & a foot-ware stand may take another 1 & 1/2 yr.
5. He was quick to identify that the plastic bag that I purchased is biodegradable.
6. Upon persisting more, he asked me to get lost if I'm not intereasted to get in & I'm free not to visit.
7. At 2 PM the crowd was not so huge but still the temple volunteers were discouraging visitors to buy Rs. 100/- entry ticket sighting the reason that free darshan will take 2 hrs waiting.
8. We bought into the idea & got tickets for 5 of us. Even though it is a clear entrance ticket, it says "seva" & "entry is free". Whom do they want to fool here ?
9. On our way in, visitors from free queue also got mixed with us & they told the waiting was about 30 min. So I paid my Rs. 500/- for no reason :-(
10. As expected the -in (& later way-out) passes through their shopping mall seling silk saree, agarbatti, small momentos, & many more articles.

Once you get into the actual temple premises, you feel better & surroundings resemble to any resort. Then you are made to walk the START shaped path, about 1+ KM.

1. Along this path also, you see more counters selling water then taps with free water.
2. Many boards boasting about the place. 1 was very intereasting, justifying that spending money for a tourist spot is more important then spending it for building school :-(
3. The central temple is nice & attractive with gold plating all over. I herd some 300 KG (or tons) of gold is used. I felt sad, that such a huge money can be used for so many more causes :-( Even if it is somebody's BLACK money, can be used for a better cause.
4. This golden temple is surrounded by water & the pond has 1,000s of Indian currency coins & notes dropped by devotees (?). Again a waste of money & the basic cost of printing these notes. RBI shoudl take a note of this.
5. I think it is easy to have a small net covering the pond to catch the offerings, but again like the foot-ware stand, I think, they do not have money. Or they want it to be like this for more devotees (?) to see & drop more money there.
6. A BIG difference that I observed is: depending upon the money shelling capacity of the visitors, they are divided into 3 groups: free, Rs. 100/- & Rs. 250/-. The more you spend the closer you get to the god.

Unlike Tirupati where everybody gets to see the god from same place, & money helps you to spend less or more time in the queue. Here the free queue is all the time kept at a distance from god :-(

Obama equates India with Pakistan & N Korea

Article in esakal -- http://beta.esakal.com/Article/ArticlePage.aspx?Id=B2615F61-FE5C-4CCB-B3EF-020C1E5E7E0F

And Obama's speech does not refer to Isrial :-(

This shows the double standards that USA has for Isrial & rest of the world. It is a clear indication that Obama is also not a different person & he is also working under Isrial lobby in the USA.

Should L K Advani be more careful ?

Meet the leady of the house (DNA, Bangalore, 04-Jun-09, page - 9)

This article carrys reactions from: Meira Kumar, LK Advani & Manmohan Singh. Advani's comments are really striking & look out of place "I read that your voters are disappointed with your election as speaker but I feel you will be able to serve people better in this position then as a minister". What does this mean ? Does this mean she is better to be a speaker then a minister ?

Celebrating 31st DEc vs Chaitra Shukla Pratipada !

http://www.sanghparivar.org/welcome-the-new-year-by-celebrating-samvatsararambh-chaitra-shukla-pratipada

I believe in trying to protect Hindu culture, we are bashing events like 25th Dec (x'mas Day), 31st Dec (new yr eve) & 14th Jan (Valentine Day) too much. This will back fire. We should understand that now a days all the days & events & festivals are governed by a strong market force & electronic media. They want to sell things & they sell it on each & every ocassion. They hardly distinguish if its a Hindu, Muslim or Christian event.

Moreover everybody is having a party, drinks, etc on 31st Dec & this shows that at least the Hindus have not started treating it as any Brahma muhurta. Where as many observe Brahma Muhurta on the ocassions of Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, Diwali & many other regional events.

Does the author thinks that if I party on 31st Dec, I have dis-respect for Chaitra Shukla Pratipada ? This way of thinking & writing is not going to be accepted by normal janata, this will surely back fire. if you have observed, these kind of tactics have back0fired during recent Delhi elections.

BJP, ShivSena, VHP, BajrangDal & to a large extent Sangh Parivhar should start thinking a on the improved lines now. We cannot create fear psychosis anymore.

One thought -- instead of bashing others we should try & propagate our culture the way Christians are doing. Get market & media to support Hindu culture, festivals, events, etc the same way they support 25th Dec, 1st JAN, 14th JAN, etc. This will not happen easily. We have to give market & media what 25th Dec, 1st JAN, 14th JAN, etc gives, that is spending. When Hindus spend during Diwali, the markets & media push it. They will do the same for each & every Hindu festival if we give them what they need.