Well done, Rubens !

"Drop off !"

Ferrari team manager Ross Brawn radioed these words to Rubens Barrichello when he was only a few metres away from clinching a great win at A-1 ring (Austria) in 2002..Rubens just couldnt believe it..But he had no other option but to follow team orders..Michael was running second in that race and Ferrari wanted Michael to be on the top spot to maximize his lead in overall ch'ship..

Michael won that race with the gap of 0.011 seconds over Rubens..The narrowest winning margin ever seen in F - 1..

Rubens joined Ferrari in 2000 as their no.2 driver..But in the span of 6 seasons, Ferrari couldnt give proper justice to the incredible talent of Rubens..Rubens always n always had to play the second fiddle to Michael..No doubt, Michael got the glory days of Ferrari back again..But Rubens got under-estimated "n" no. of times..Rubens has won 9 G.P.'s till date and has got 2nd position for 26 times..Ironically, Michael has won races 19 times when Rubens came 2nd..This stat is quite revealing about the strategies adopted by Ferrari.. In this year's US G.P. too, Rubens was pushed off the race track by Michael when only 6 cars took part in the race..It was shear arrogance from the German..

Finally, in this year when Rubens decided to leave Ferrari, I was more than happy !..n now he'd joining BAR Honda as their no.1 driver..WELL DONE, RUBENS !!! Not only myself but all your fans across the world want you to win the races BEATING those red cars..just shake them off !!!

4 years of fun...thats engineering, guyz !

4 full imperial sized sheets in one night..

That was the mission we had to accomplish..So all the gang came to my place n we, 5-6 guys, did that in less than 4 hrs..Thats where the concept of "GT" (glass tracing) rules ! The person who has invented this awesome technique was an engineer in a true sense..

Another adventurous thing in engineering life is "submissions"..You might not do as much work for your final exams as you need to do for your submissions..That sucks ! Really..Coz no-one reads those bunches of papers after you get the sign on it..For that signature, we are supposed to write 100 odd pages for almost every subject..Total crap !

Lectures are engaged so that students can get some inputs from prof's, but in VIT, we did sit for the lectures only for the hillarious comments made by our great great prof's..Prof Khandagale (prod dept) had once said, "Its similar, but not very similar ! " ..We just couldnt stop laughing for next half an hour..Then once Prof Kore got very angry..N he struggled to express himself n ultimately he uttered "I'm very hot ! What to say , got no words !! " ..N if you think this is it, better you read the comment made by Prof Nitsure..In SE, he delivered the coment of the decade.. "Nothing will go of my father, if you fall in pit ! " can anyone beat this ????? i guess its just impossible..Its word to word translation of marathi saying "tu khaddyat padlas tar mazya baapacha kahi jaat nahiye"..

VIT's canteen is one of smallest canteens among the city colleges..N more on that, they eat up canteen's space for more parking area every year..Thats really ridiculous ! Jaaye to jaaye kahaan !!! But you get lots of good punjabi, chinese stuff in the canteen.. Fortunately, I could participate in lots of technical competitions..Also did some organizing work in "mechatrix"..These kinda activities help you in developing good public relations, your managing capabilities, your technical skills..In BE, i got the chance of being Technical Secretary of the college..Nice experience it was ! ..

I really had a ball in VIT wih lotsa friends..I did have quarrels with almost every prof in TE n BE..But it was fun ! All in all, I would consider engineering life as one of the best time-periods of my life !!!

Lets take a Coffee break !

Feeling really bored ?? Wanna stay awake all nite for submissions ?? Wanna refresh yourself ??

The best solution to all these situations is " COFFEE "..We all would agree with this..n now CCD's , Barista's are adding a different dimension to coffee experience..In these outlets, you can go almost anytime, have a cup of coffee with your friends, can chat with your pals without any time restriction..You can listen your favourite songs, buy books, play scrabble, watch tv etc etc...

In the afternoons n in the evenings, Cappucino or chococino or cafe latte are generally the favourites ; while in the late evenings, nites, late nites,, irish coffee, americano are the preferred ones..My favourite is 'americano' which is basically black coffee..It gives me a big zatka to stay awake all nite..Nescafe rules when you are home n dont want to go out..It just pulls you out from howsoever bad your mood could be..

cheers !
n Lets meet for a cup of coffee !

Amazing Lakshadweep

Magical !!!

This could be the best possible single word description of Lakshadweep islands..You just cant stop saving the whole atmosphere in your memory for a split second too..Only on national geographic or on discovery channels, we get to see thsoe blue waters n lagoons n white beach sand..

It all began with our train journey from Pune..It took some 38 hrs to reach Ernakulam stn (Cochin)..But it was fun with lotsa friends..The next day, we had to catch a ship for Kawaratti from Cochin..When they told that it'd take around 16 hrs to reach Kawaratti, पोटात गोळा !!!

"Tipu Sultan", our conveyance to Kawaratti, was a huge vessel..n as they started to unfold its mysteries, we couldnt do anything but to panic more n more every second..That ship's expected life had ended 15 yrs ago..It had caught fire 'n' no.of times; the latest being just 6 months back..we had company of 500 odd people on that ship..n lots of cargo too..Tipu Sultan is the largest n oldest vessel that plies between Lakshadweep islands to Cochin..Kadmat, Agatti, Andrott, Bangaram, Kalpeni, Minicoy are the other main islands in Lakshadweep..Kawaratti, being capital, doesnt have an air strip though..The only air strip is at Agatti..

We could see lotsa dolphins as we were entering the main sea waters..We all had to sit on the deck area, n that too with plastic bags in pockets..Atleast, the constant breeze of fresh air eased the dangerous phenomenon called "sea sickness"..Canteen was a floor down..With no supply of fresh air in canteen, many of us had the first experience of puke on the ship..We ran off to the upper deck n did spend all the remaining time there only..Dumb-charades, antakshari, jokes can pass any amount of time really well..

After the dangerous stunts of dis-embarking, we reached Kawaratti by small boats almost 18 hrs after we had left Cochin..Kawaratti is a very beautiful place..Clear blue waters, white beach without any plastic scrap is surely a rare sight in India..We visited a factory in which the local public make a lotta things from coconuts..Yeah, only coconut products are made in Kawaratti..All the other things are shipped from Cochin..So we had to be very careful using the resources..Electricity, paper, n even a match box too..

The next day, we went for Scuba - diving..I could go upto 35 ft. max. down the sea level..After abt 25 ft down in waters, your lungs really start to get exhausted..I could see various kinda fish, turtles, corals (most dead but a few live ones too)..The whole experience of scuba was really amazing..

I tried my hand at water - skiing, kayaking, snorkelling too; water - skiing being the most tiring..After water - skiing, there wasnt any body part which didnt pain..But it was an experience !!

We cycled n roamed around in that small place of Kawaratti..View from the light-house was simply fabulous !!! We did celebrate one of our friend's b'day there with a great party..
We had a helicopter ride schedulled too but we had to cancel that plan as our ship back to Cochin, was preponed by 12 hrs..Fortunately, this time the ship, "Amindivi", was quite new n was lesser crowded..It had nice seating arrangement but i preferred the deck area for the obvious reason.. Cochin->Kawaratti->Kadmat->Bangaram->Agatti->Cochin was the route to be followed this time..So needless to say, we were bound to take more time to return back to Cochin..30 hrs, to be precise !!!

After dis-embarking at Cochin port, we hurried to catch our train back to Panvel..Journey to Panvel in superfast Netravati exp., n through all the backwaters, coconut n cashew n supari trees, greenary around was really a pleasure..

हम चलें चंद्रताल !!!

Friends,Romans,Countrymen,
In 1854, on the snow clad hill-slopes of the himalayas lived a wise hermit to loved to trek. He died in 1856. this log is dedicated to that poor old man who did not have the opportunity to make such a log.

Thus unfolds the lengendary kathaa of our danger-laden trek to Chandrataal:

It all began with our train journey to delhi...(june 26th)...reaching the railway stn @ 4 am was torture for most of the guys...but it wasnt so for the nocturnal creature that i am...26 hrs to Delhi were full-to fun, dangaa, tp, non-sense, food....yeah, we had too much food...

On 27th's evening, we had to catch the bus for manali...couldnt do much dangaa there in the bus for fear that the driver may suddenly decide to abandon us in some secluded spot and run off (with the bus of course)...28th was a bright sunny day in Manali...we (non-tekdi guys) went to jogini falls for acclamatization...was a great place...firang babes in their barely-there clothes (leaving nothing to the imagination) added spice to our excursion...We visited hadimba temple in the evening...nice place!!! my 6th visit to hadimba, in all...
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We left for the actual trek route from manali early in the morning on the 29th...0400 hrs...it was so damn cold we had people shivering from hair to u know what...We had to cross Rohtang pass as early as possible,but it was almost 7 when we finally left our hotel in manali...my Qualis was very capacious with only 6 guys sitting in it..The road to Rohtang kept telling us to mind its curves..as if we'd had an option..Rohtang was very crowded as expected...had our breakfast at a small place called Grampho, 16 kms from rohtang (last place on Manali-Leh highway on our way to ch'taal)...reached a small kasbaa called chhatru by noon...our first day trek was from *chhatru to dadar-fu*( sounds Chinese? )...moderate distance of 7-8 kms...
Walkin to dadar-fu was hardly tiring...dadar-fu was a great sight...there was a nice waterfall nearby...climbing climbing kiya...fun kiya...

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The next day, 30th june, 2 tekdi guys started feeling HAS (high altitude sickness)...
So we had to send "The Sickos" back to manali..the rest of us were to reach *Chhota-Dara*( no relative of any wrestler/gangster). 8 kms from dadar-fu...God damn HAS started troubling a few more guys by then...Chhota Dara was a windy site...some of us tried rock climbing there(TRIED!!)
i couldnt, coz my feet were blistered... :-(
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1st july :

Now it was pushkar's turn to go back to Manali...He was the most experienced Himalayan trekker amongst us...but HAS troubled him like hell...n the distance to be covered that day was 17 kms...also 1 girl, Persis, couldnt walk after sometime...so we sent her to *Baatal*, our destination camp for that day, via some passing jeep...walking there was getting harder n harder after every step...me n Amey Kunte had quite an amount of energy left...so we sprinted to baatal in 3 n half hrs without stopping in last 14 kms( clap clap ).

Persis was sitting there but wasnt feeling perfectly allright...In the evening, she n one more guy, Rao, had to be sent back to Manali..For the first time in all my trekking experience,were 5 people sent back to the start.

Baatal was very very windy...it took us more than 40 mins to pitch our tent...generally it requires 15 mins max.( doesn't speak too well of us now does it? ).
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3rd n 4th july :

The actual plan was to go to a monestry called Tokpo Yongma on 3rd n return to Chandrataal on 4th july evening...but looking at everyone's condition, the local guide said we shouldnt go there...so we stayed at Chandrataal...did some small climbs, played in snow, played cards, had fun in songs' mehfils. We prepared dinner ourselves n rested the local cooks...all in all had too much fun..

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5th july :

The day started on a terribly wrong note...it was snowing heavily from 0430 hrs...n there wasnt any sign of respite from the snowfalll...According to the original plan,we had to climb 7 kms n reach Kumzum Pass n go back to Manali from there via jeeps which were supposed to pick us up there..

but it was very very risky to climb up in the snow...so we decided to go back to Baatal, 14kms down...we lost our way in the snow...snowfall just didn't stop...winds were chilling...our sacks had protection but for heavy snowfall like that, it wasnt enough to keep the stuff inside dry...we were walkiing all day with wet socks, wet shoes, wet pants (ewwwww)...

We had to cover those 14kms in the shortest possible time...we had to pull the weaker guys all the time...finally we reached Baatal at 2 pm...jeepwallahs had come 2-3 kms from baatal to pick us up...what a relief !!!...after our lunch n clothes changing, we left for manali at 5 pm..

but where was the road ???

The entire road was covered with thick snow..Our Sumos were going through that snow trying to find the road...it s all depended on the drivers' skills...their memory, basically... where's the glacier, where's the crevice, n mainly where's the road....

It was still snowing...

We had to come out from our sumo n lagao dhakka *n* no of times...it was damn cold outside the vehicle...n in that we had to put our feet in 2 feet thick snow n lagao dhakka...

horrible !

Reached Chhatru back at 8 pm...it took us 3 hrs to clock 30 odd kms n that too with those expert drivers...

n the fun begins now...

After Chhatru, we had to clear the landslides !!!! yeah, you read it correctly...LANDSLIDES...
As we saw a landslide, we'd come out of the sumos, push the rocks in the valley... all this in snowfall, spine-chilling cold n in the night using torches or headlights...after clearing this, you get a new landslide on the next turn...

हे भगवान कर कल्याण !!! (hey bhagwan, kar kalyan ! )

We cleared almost 15 landslides from Chhatru...but finally we got stuck to a rock which was double the size of our sumo gaddi...it was impossible to move by an inch too...

so a decision was made to go back to chhatru n stay there in a small dhaba...it was 0000hrs 6th july, when we reached chhatru again...we were shivering continuously...sitting near a shekoti(burning horse shit!) n sipping tea, somehow we managed to pass that night...

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6th july:

We slept turn by turn in that small dhaba in Chhatru...as the weather got cleared a bit, we instantly left for Manali...our drivers had decided to pass that big rock anyhow...

They did drink like hell to sustain the fatigue n to have energy in that weather... आमच्या XX कपाळात ! (aamchya XX kapaalat) ...they passed sumos through that narrowest gap, i dont know how...its just undescribable...we were watching the sumo's 2 tyres alomst completely in the valley n the other driver was shouting *aane de aane de*...we didnt have balls to stay in sumo while they showing this stunt...we were standing atleast 200 metres away...

After clearing this landslide. we came across many landslides...the rocks were not as big though...at one place Kunte went ahead to clear a few rocks n a rock, sized almost equal to a small truck, went rolling bekkar fastly in the vally, just 5 feet behind him...we were all stunned...kunte couldnt even speak up for next 15 minutes...

Again we had to go back to find shelter somewhere as it was past 7.30 pm...it was very risky to park the vehicles on the road n sleep inside...We found a small house belonging to a tibetan...he allowed us to stay in...gave us food too...We, 18 guys had to distribute in his house n gotha...snowfall had again started...no-one could sleep...It was the highest degree of cold i have ever experienced...wettish jackets,pull-overs,sweaters could hardly protect us from that cold...

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7th july:

We were supposed to be in delhi on 7th to catch the train to pune...but we weren't even in Manali...there wasnt any communication possible...no mobile networks...

Now, we had to decide whether to stay there or to move ahead...some of us were in terrible health...but, we decided to move ahead...Sumos were not feasible as there were too many landslides ahead...so we started walking...after doing 7 kms, we reached a place called *Grampho* which was a place on manali-leh highway...so we had a chance to get some transport from there to manali...

But luck was on our side this time (ABOUT TIME!!)...

2 empty jeeps coming back from leh agreed to drop us at manali...but they werent so sure about the road ahead...but somehow we left for Manali...
Till rohtang, it was again full white-wash...again we cleared some landslides...after crossing rohtang, there was a big fresh landslide stretching about 300 metres...impossible to clear up by hands...but mobiles were working now...we walked through that landslide n waited for the jeeps to come from manali side...our jeeps arrived after sometime n we finally reached Manali at 6 pm...

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8th july:

Manali-Delhi bus passes via Kullu...but Kullu was also closed due to floods for some days...again the luck was on our side...on 8th , our bus could pass through kullu n we were on our way to delhi...by this time, our train reservations from Delhi to Pune had gone waste...
We could only get confirmed tickets of a royal train called Firozpur-Mumbai janata exp, which is supposed to take 6 hrs more than the avg time on that route...
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9th n 10th july :

reached Delhi in the morning...4 of us decided to fly back to Pune...
Our royal train was in the afternoon...it came 1 n half hrs late...but we reached dadar before time on 10th's evening...we did lots of dhamaal in train...we were all again charged-up...
30 hrs train journey felt like nothing...
after dinner, took 2145 hrs' asiad from dadar for pune...n reached pune at 0130 hrs, 11th july...
husssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........................................