The Travelogue.. Part Two !

The second leg of our vacation was the one which was most eagerly awaited. On Sunday night, we boarded the Ranikhet express from Old Delhi station for our journey to Kathgodam, the last railhead and the gateway to explore the eastern Uttaranchal and Kumaon regions. The train was supposed to reach Kathgodam at the unearthly hour of 5 am, and we were always apprehensive about the cold weather at that time (Kathgodam is around 550m above MSL). Thankfully, the train was late by an hour and a half and by the time we pulled into Kathgodam at around 6.30 am, it was slightly better. The taxi I had booked was already waiting for us, though there were plenty of taxis asking if we wanted to get to any of the many destinations that can be reached from Kathgodam – Nainitial, Almora, Ranikhet etc. We got into the taxi and left in the backdrop of the rising sun to our destination – the Club Mahindra Valley Resort in Binsar !

I had heard a lot about the journey from Kathgodam to Binsar (120kms, takes around 4.5 hrs). For the initial part, we had the meandering river Kosi for company (and I could not, still do not, believe that this was the same Kosi river that causes so much havoc further downstream in Bihar). As we moved along with the river, the morning sun rays and the shallow river bed made for some great photo opportunities. The road condition was mostly good, the turns not too sharp and we proceeded at a fair clip (stopping in the way for a wonderful snack of Bhajiya, Aloo Paratha and Tea !). We soon reached the town of Almora, which in itself is a good hill-station. As we entered the second half of the journey, we started gaining in height and soon, the magnificent snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas appeared on the horizon. It was surely a case of so near, yet so far ! (the peaks are about 250kms away in a straight line and yet seem so near !). Finally, at around 11.30 am, we passed the entrance gates of the Club Mahindra Valley resort in Binsar (around 1800m above MSL).

We were greeted not just by the courteous staff at the reception but also by an array of colorful flowers in the resort. After checking into our apartment, we quickly set about exploring the resort and its surroundings. As is well known, the resort is known for its natural beauty. There are also many opportunities available for talking long walks around the resort (though you have to be fit enough since it is all in a hilly area and there are hardly any flat patches available). The first evening was well-spent at the activity center, where a game of Housie kept us all entertained (though without any returns !). For the second day, we had booked a cab for sight-seeing (the no. is 08057245755 for good deals). Now the issue with a place like Binsar is that most of the sightseeing places (apart from the Binsar sanctuary) are a good distance away. We first went to the Bell Temple and from there to the Jageshwar temple complex (around 60km away). Jageshwar is a nice little temple complex consisting of 108 small temples spread over a small area. But because it was so far away, it was almost 4.30pm by the time we reached the Binsar sanctuary on our way back. It was probably the worst time to visit the sanctuary. Firstly, there is a steep entry charge (Rs 150 per person and Rs 250 for your vehicle). The vehicle then has to travel another 15km inside. We were all excited to visit the famed Zero Point, from where you can get a wonderful view of the many Himalayan peaks. The last leg in the approach to Zero Point can only be done on foot and sadly, there is no information displayed in the Park that gives us either the direction to Zero Point or the distance (the estimates we got from people there were in the range of 1 – 4 kms). While me and my wife did set out, we were finally thwarted by a combination of the cold, the setting sun (since it can quickly get dark after sunset), lack of fellow travelers and most importantly, absolute lack of any signs/directions that could have helped us. For a park that we spent almost a thousand bucks visiting, this was the least we expected. Sadly, we returned disappointed (though we got decent views of the Himalayas while on our way – including the Nanda Devi, the highest peak completely in India). TIP: Visit the Binsar sanctuary in the mornings ONLY !

The third and final day of our stay was devoted to just relaxing at the resort, since the whole point of visiting any Club Mahindra resort is to savor the experience of staying there. After a lazy yet tasteful lunch at a small hotel just walking distance from the resort, we had a good afternoon siesta and then we visited the other Club M resort there – the Manipur Villa. It is located about 500 feet or so above the Valley resort and the private road that takes you there makes for a thrilling ride ! Though not as vast as the Valley Resort, it still is a lovely place, with the many log huts giving a different experience altogether. So in case you are not travelling with children, the Manipur Villa might be a very good option. Our last evening there again was spent at the activity center – where we indulged our vocal chords in a wonderful Karaoke session organized by the guys there. My 18-month old daughter also enjoyed the open space in the resort and the steps to our room and towards the hotel (she simply loves climbing stairs !)

And so ended our stay at Binsar as we departed the next morning, filled with sweet memories of a fine resort and a great experience!

Cheers

Amit

The Travelogue... Part One !

This trip was coming for a long time.. Hotel bookings were done in May itself, train reservations were completed almost at the start of the 120-day advance reservation period, and after that there was nothing much to do but wait for the trip. My first extended trip with the full family, and much planning and preperation had gone into it. But before we could begin, there were several moments of anxiousness when little Aarya (all of 18 months) fell victim to diaarheoa just a week before we were to depart from Mumbai. On more than one occassion, we were worried that the trip would end even before it started. But thankfully she recovered well in time, and on the afternoon of 25th October, my parents, wife (Anjali), Aarya and me gathered at Mumbai Central station to board the August Kranti Rajdhani to Delhi, everyone in a state of excitement and expectation of a good time in the coming 10 days.

 

Travel on the AK Rajdhani was largely comfortable (though we felt more than our fair share of jerks). Anyways, in a Rajdhani, most of your non-sleeping time is spent eating ! And it was no different for us as we gulped down the samosas, juices, soups and then the dinner !. Next morning, we ended up at the Nizamuddin Station in Delhi, from there it was quick drive down to the Ginger Hotel outside New Delhi station. A word on the hotel: excellent location and decent facilities (where else would you get an AC room within 2 minutes walk from the railway and Metro stations for just 1700 bucks ?). If you are going to Delhi with the aim of not spending too much time in your hotel, then this is the place for you. That evening, we had our first ride on the Delhi Metro. And I am must say I was impressed (and coming from a Mumbaikar, that IS saying a LOT !! ;). Coaches were well maintained, stations were clean and the connections were quick. In fact the whole set up (travelling in a Metro and the hotel just outside the main station) reminded me of an earlier trip in 2007 to Nuremberg, Germany. The next day (27th October) we hired a cab (got a good deal from EasyCabs) and left for Agra. As I have detailed in an earlier blog post, the experience was not very pleasant. The Taj was overflowing with people and civic sense was largely absent in the general population. Had it been my first trip to the grand monument, it would have been tragic and heart-breaking not to see the granduer of the Taj in liesure. In the evening, we also w the Fatehpur Sikri, another beautiful place to see. Next day, there was a short journey to the Lotus Temple followed by one of the better lunches that I have had (at the Purani Dilli restaurent in the Kalkaji Metro station). In the evening, we all came back to our hotel, ready to say Bye Bye to Delhi and to begin Stage 2 of our trip... a ride up in the mountains and into Uttarakhand !!

 

Details in the next installment !! :)

 

Cheers

Amit

Why we are so bad as a tourist destination.. !

First, some statistics. The number of foreign tourist arriving in India stands at around 5 million every year. Though it is growing at around 15 odd percent every year, India's share in world tourist arrivals stands at a lowly 0.7 %. In fact, the stated objective of the government is to increase this figure marginally to around 1% by 2016. Both these figures are dismal for a country like India which has umpteen tourist spots (apart from the usual suspects like Goa, the Taj and Kashmir, there are still plenty of sights on offer in a nation as vast and diverse as ours). And what is even worse, there are many reports that suggest that Indians prefer to travel abroad (with the Gulf, South-East Asia becoming cheap destinations) rather than spend time and money on seeing what their own land has to offer ! On a recent trip up North, I came across two instances (on the same day no less !!) that offered a glimpse on why we are so bad at attracting tourists.

 

On Saturday the 27th October, I visited the Taj Mahal. When I reached there around 11.30 am, it was a choc-a-bloc with people (I was told that the long weekend and Bakri Id were the cause). Whatever the reason, it was packed with tourists (see the huge numbers in the attached snap) and we had to stand in the queue no less than 3 times (purchasing tickets, entering the main compound and then entering the actual Taj structure). Now I have no issues in respecting the queue, but many of the people around seemed oblivous to people spending time in standing in a queue. Touts and guides were freely injecting their customers in the queue, and nobody seemed to mind. As is to be expected, there was no security around to mind the crowds and that made things even worse. It was especially bad at the entrance to the main Taj structure, where I, with my temper running high, almost had a physical altercation with people who were jumping the queue ! Off the two-odd hours that I spent there, nearly 1.5 hours was spent in queues and arguing with people. Thankfully, it was my second visit to the Taj. Had it been my first, I would have been gutted to see the experience of visiting a beautiful monument spoilt by people who do not have the civic sense of queing up (The next day, I was at the Lotus Temple in Delhi, and the same scene played out there as well !).

 

From the Taj, we drove on to Fatehpur Sikri around 40km to the west. About 4km short of the monument, as we pulled away from the highway onto the service road, our cab was stopped by a couple of people claiming to be guides. They pointed to a spot about 200m away and said that outside cars were permitted to go only till that point. Thereafter, there was a cab shuttle to take visitors to Fatehpur Sikri (a couple of hundred bucks to cover around 3-4 kms !). To add to it were their guide fees of around Rs 100. Their USP was, of course, to give us a discount of Rs 50 !! With our mood already fouled by the events at the Taj, we simply ignored them and moved on. And found that our cab could go freely till almost the end (with only the last 0.5 km being covered in a government shuttle bus that cost a princely sum of Rs 5 each !). It was then I discovered the meaning of the word highway robbery. God alone knows how many people have fallen to this fraud ! (We were again stopped - with people almost jumping in front of our moving cab - about a kilometer from the monument, but this time we knew better). Another example of the experience of visting a beautiful place like the Fatehpur Sikri being spoilt.

 

As long as instances like this happen, there is no reason why we should spent our time and money getting ripped off by anti-social elements out to make a quick buck in the name of tourism. It is something that the government needs to address quickly. They need to look at what is happening around the tourist places, not just inside. Till that happens, and visiting tourist spots is made a comfortable experience (I am not even getting into the state of the infrastructure at many of the places), we will continue to lag at the bottom of the heap when it comes to attracting tourists. Dear Mr. Chiranjeevi (who was recently appointed MoS with independent charge of tourism), I hope you use your learnings from your various movie shoots abroad and implement them so that we learn how to take care of our tourists.

 

Amit

 

Account of my most memorable trek .... after 11 years !!!

Guys

Finally got my hands on an old mail describing my first, and my most memorable trek to date, to Bhimashankar way back in June 2001 !!!.. It was simply the most breathtaking, not to mention the toughest trek I have ever done. But each minute of those near-4 hours of trekking was worth it when we reached the top. Unfortunately, those were the pre-smartphone days and digicams were not that much in vogue then, hence could not take snaps.

So below is a verbatim account of the trek (written in good old MS Word the Monday after our trek) that we (me and my good friends Prashant Upasani and Nikhil Dalvi) had jointly put up and mailed to our other friends in Patni (where I was working then). Excuse the slightly amaeturish writing and the repeated emphasis on one word in caps (there was a meaning to that back then) !!

Thanks to Prashant for digging this document back after 11 long years... :)

-------------------------

>From Amit, Nikhil and Prashant -

Dear Friends(Unfortunate souls),

I know you all haven’t experienced what heaven is. So we thought that we shall share our experience with you all.  At least you all can enjoy it virtually.

Last weekend we three had been to HEAVEN i.e. Bhimashankar.  The experience was of lifetime. It was unbelievable. No words can describe what we had experienced. Here it is in short.....

The journey from Mumbai itself was exciting. Here, in Mumbai itself, it was raining so heavily, we were never sure what will happen next moment. This kind of uncertainty added thrill to our journey and working here at office for months together and just putting our valuable time only in travelling between office and home, we were really desperate to have such excitement.  What we got was certainly above our expectations. The real enjoyment was onward Karjat. The journey from Karjat to Khandas(from where we trekked) was very pleasant. The journey was through ghats with fields surrounding. It was lush green and raining. The view was very beautiful.

We reached Khandas at around 8.40 and started our trek at 9.15. The weather at that time was unbelievable. It was something that we all haven’t experienced, staying here in city. Each and every moment was unique. Each and every moment was exciting and an experience we never had before, an experience to remember forever.

We had to cross almost two mountains to reach Bhimashankar. When we started our trek, the view we had was, lush green mountains with water falls all over them. The mountains were covered by clouds, was raining and absolutely beautiful. The start of the trek itself was through a forest. As we continued, the trek took us through a variety of surroundings. At times through lush green plains, at times over steep rocks and then through the famous Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary (which boasts of animals like leopards, sambars and of course The Great Indian Squirrel)

As we were climbing we were nearing to something that could only be felt and not said, and that was HEAVEN. It was the combination of Rains, Green fields, Mountains, Water falls, Clouds and Forest that made it so beautiful.  At one point of time we were walking amidst clouds. It was raining very very heavily. The wind was very strong and what we felt was, it can’t be anything except HEAVEN. Each and every moment in our trek was an experience.

One particularily magical moment was when took a little break right in the middle of the forest. Initially it was clear but in exactly five minutes we were surrounded by clouds from all sides with heavy rains and visibilty less than 20 feet.

When, after 4 hours of trekking, we finally reached the top, the feeling which we experienced was once in a lifetime. It was 1.30 in the afternoon, admist heavy rains and thick clouds there was a small lake to greet us .We refreshed ourselves with the cold water of the lake and simply stared open-mouthed at the beauty of nature around us. Surely Lord Shiva could not have chosen a better place to have his temple in.

Memories of our trek are very sweet and we would cherish those for whole of our life. Sometimes we went through such thick forest that though it was raining heavily, we hardly got water spilled on us. It was pitch dark and getting all sorts of sounds of wild animals from the jungle of Tungi.  We were passing through clouds and at some moments were not able to see the view 10 feet far due to thick clouds. That too at 12.30 in the afternoon.

Those who missed it are very unfortunate.......we would have enjoyed if somebody could have shared  such experience, so we didn’t miss anybody (except few) in such a romantic, lively atmosphere and breath taking trek.  Though we couldn’t catch the moments in camera, we have them deep in our mind and heart for years to come.

There are many things to say, and many more things that can be felt and I wish you all should experience those and if possible in rainy season.

So all of you guys ,whatever you do, simply do not miss the thrill of a trek to GOD’s OWN PLACE - THE HEAVEN ON EARTH - BHIMASHANKAR....

Love,

Amit, Nikhil and Prashant.

P.S. While coming back, we had another trek in “MALSHEJ” ghat(11 kms).

****************

Cheers

Amit

'Eka Lagnachi Doosri Goshta'... not your usual soap opera...!!

Now this is probably my first post regarding any television series. And with good reason. I hardly watch any television serial. In fact, my active TV viewing is restricted to sports, business shows, the news and the odd show on National Geographic or Discovery. However, with my parents tuning in to regional (i.e. Marathi) TV shows in the evenings, I invariably used to catch some episodes of a few TV serials. Over the past few months, one TV show has gradually managed to garner my attention and involvement. And when that show ended yesterday, there was more than a tinge of sadness. The show is the extremely successful and popular show on Zee Marathi : "Eka Lagnachi Doosri Goshta".

Translated literally as 'The other story of a marriage'. this serial, which started in January this year, is the story of two youngsters: Ghanashyam and Radha. These are like any other young men you would find around you. Smart, ambitious (Ghana's dream is a job in the US) and sure of what they want they want from life. But both having to face constant questions from their families regarding marriage. Marriage is, of course, the last thing on their minds. But when these two meet and realize they are sailing in the same boat, they hit upon an idea: get into a 'contract' marriage for a year just to appease their families, survive that time period, then get a divorce and live happily ever after. What follows over the show is, predictably, the story of how they realize that such an arrangement is not so simple as it seems and how love blossoms out of this contract arrangement.

The plot is fairly straight forward and the viewers are aware of the end the moment Ghana and Radha begin their 'married' life. But the director (Satish Rajwade) has handled this journey towards the end moment admirably. For starters, this show has a large dash of humour, but at the same time, never loses sight of the serious issues underpinning it. Secondly, the show is blessed with numerous but very sharply defined supporting characters. Whether they are Ghana's two uncles, Radha's father or the very lovable Maai (grandmother) in Ghana's household, each character brings to the table its own unique identity. As a result you tend to remember all of them and not just the two main protagonists. Applaud the team for investing time and effort spent in developing each character. 

Finally, the performances. The supporting cast comprises numerous well-known names in Marathi TV and theater. The veteran Vinay Apte is brilliant as Radha's father (and the bond between them - he is a widower - is moving). Sukanya Kulkarni plays Radha's aunt and does a fine job of it. Rekha Kamat is delightful as Maai Aaji and Spruha Joshi as Ghanashyam's poetically inclined cousin sister brings the right amount of innocence to the proceedings. But finally, the show is about Ghana and Radha. And Swapnil Joshi and Mukta Barve bring the two characters to life. Admittedly, I was no great fan of Swapnil, and even now I am still not, but his performance stands out. Mukta, in my opinion is the star of the show. She starts off as an independent young woman who hates the idea of marital life. But once she starts living with Ghanashyam's family, she slowly realizes the value of marriage. This transition has been perfectly depicted by Mukta. Definitely one of my favorite actress ! :)

To end, the fact that there was a well-defined script definitely worked in the show's favour. Right from the start, you knew how the serial would close (i.e. Ghana and Radha starting their real marital life together) hence there was no scope for the makers to drag it on a like a saas-bahu opera !. And therein lies the serials biggest plus point. Here's hoping for more such serials along the way !!

Cheers

Amit

A decade passes by.. !!

It was the last week of June 2002. A decade has gone since, but that week is still vivid in memory. The week in which me, and many more like me (who were used to living a cozy life with the security of a family around them), really stepped into the outside world. A week in which me, and many more like me, made their entry into IIM Bangalore. At the time, I can assure you, not many amongst them would have known the turn that life was to take then. Speaking for myself, I did not have the faintest clue.

The euphoria of clearing the CAT and then, getting that coveted final call lasted for not more than a few days. Talking of getting that final call, I remember that day too. I was at my desk writing, what else, but code (working for Patni Computers those days) when a call on my landline from home (those were the days where cellphones were in their infancy) confirmed the news ! But any misconceptions of having cleared the biggest hurdle in the quest for an IIM tag slowly evaporated when one contemplated the road ahead. The thought of living a hostel life for the first time, and the stories of the super-crammed schedules and night-outs quickly bought me back to earth. And thus it was that I, with parents in tow and with mixed emotions, boarded the Udyan Express from CST Mumbai on Saturday, 22^nd  June 2002, not exactly ready to face the world.

In the train, I could make out people with similar predicaments. Later on, I came to know that quite a few of my future batch-mates (amongst them Bhushan Lele, Dhananjay Redkar and Ketan Kulkarni to name a few) were on that very train. We rolled into Bangalore the next morning and in the afternoon, I had my first glimpse of the 100-acre grey-stone campus that IIM Bangalore is housed in. I also distinctly remember the butterflies in the stomach, not to mention the awe accompanying it, when the institute bus that ferried us took that small left turn from the main Bannerghatta road and entered the gates of IIM Bangalore (later made famous in 3 Idiots !!). It was truly, an unforgettable moment. Following that were the room allotments and the first taste of hostel life, and of course, that first sleepless night away from home.

Thereafter, things became much better. On Monday the 24^th began our orientation session, where the first bonds of friendships between batch mates were formed. Within the next couple of days, the first beer party at the nearby Guru Garden restaurant followed and slowly, life-time friends were found. And that gradually led to the two most memorable years of my life. A journey, of many ups and downs, but one heck of a journey nevertheless !!

A decade has passed by… since it all began !!.. J

Cheers to the batch of 2004

Amit Gokhale

The 'Say-No-To-Technology' day.. !!

The Sunday gone by was different from a normal Sunday for me. The previous night, based on nothing more than a sudden whim - no doubt partly resulting from the cribs of my better half -, I decided to abstain from browsing the Net either on my mobile or from the desktop at home. This, of course, was not a new idea entirely. A few weekends ago, I was at a small home-stay at a village near Alibaug, where there was no television in the room and the mobile network was, at best, decent in terms of speed. And I quite loved the idea not having a TV or a PC around me. I decided to further extend this idea to not accessing the benefits of television and the Internet even while at home. And I must say it was a very refreshing experience. It meant, of course, that I :

a. Did not switch on the TV the entire day

b. Did not switch on the PC the entire day (which I guess can count as a even bigger achievement in today's digital age)

c. Used the cellphone only for calls and SMSses (no chatting, no browsing on 3G)

As mentioned, I loved the idea so much that I am planning to make it a regular habit (say once a month) and I would heartily recommend it to everyone. The question that would arise is : How do I then spend my Sunday ? Well, some of the things that can be done is:

a. Go for a morning walk or jog. Even if you are one of those that likes to get that extra couple of hours of sleep on Sunday mornings, going out a little late is not a bad idea. I went out for a walk after 8 am with my wife and the weather was still pleasant outside.

b. Try your hand at cooking (as I wish to do someday) or help your spouse/parents in the kitchen (which I managed to do).

c. Do some cleaning around in the house, do not leave everything to the maid. Clean the dust off those old boxes in the attic once in a while. If you are more enterprising, you can even try washing your own clothes. There are few things more satisfiying than taking care of your own washing.

d. Meet up with friends and relatives for brunch

e. And last, but definitely not the least, catch up on a good book. This brings me to the main idea in this post, especially relevant for those, like me, who are parents to babies in the 0-2 years age group. You commonly hear parents bemoan the fact that their children spend more time watching Doreamon on TV and neglect their school homework. And with space around the building being occupied more by cars than children, playing outdoors has become a luxury. But to those parents, I would like to ask a simple question: How much time did you spend in front of the TV when your kid was younger ? How much time did you spend reading a book ? The answer might be plainly obvious. The fact is that kids are very good imitators. They pick up those habits and activities which they see people around the house doing. Today, as a father to a 15-month old daughter, the main thought tormenting me is : how do I ensure that I inculcate good habits in her ? The simple answer (which, like all simple things, is difficult to implement), to that is: I do what I want her to do. So, if I want her to pick up the habit of reading, it is important she sees me reading books and newspapers.  Hence the focus on reading as much as possible when you are around the kid on a Sunday. Hopefully, the habit will rub off on them. I had neglected my reading the past few months but I hope to get back to it with a vengenance.

Thus, I would readily recommend saying NO to technology once in a while. I loved it immensely, I hope others try it out and I would be eager to learn about your experiences.

PS: This is not meant to preach anything. Just thought would share something that seems to be working well for me.

Cheers

Amit

Sasawane : An ideal weekend getaway...

As summer reaches its unbearable zenith and the gaze slowly turns towards the heavens in search of those black clouds, there is always the urge to get away from it all: the energy-sapping humidity, the maddening crowds of the city and the other distractions of day-day life: work, TV etc etc. To get away from it all and be in some place where time passes by slowly and where you have nothing to do but just sit around and watch the world go by (or maybe just read a book in the midst of nature). And last week, I managed to do just that (though for a mere day and a half) and simply had the most amazing experience !!



Zoom view of Stock Exchange from
Sasawane beach

The place that I chose to go was a small village called Sasawane near Alibaug (see the bottom center in the map). For me, the best part about this place is its very close proximity to Mumbai. From the moment I left my doorstep in the distant suburb of Goregaon, I landed at the resort in Sasawane in 2 1/2 hours flat !! (1 hr to go the Gateway of India, another 1 hr to get to Mandwa via the catamaran and then a final 30 minutes to reach Sasawane). And this close proximity to Mumbai is pretty evident from the fact that the towering skyline of South Mumbai is distinctly visible from the Saswaane beach (see attached pictures - including a zoom view of the Stock Exchange building !!). But yet, even though South Mumbai might hardly be just 25-30 kms away (straight-line basis), Sasawane is, quite simply, a world apart, and therein is the next best part of the place. I could see Mumbai and yet feel so far away from it !. And Saswane has a good old-fashioned charm about it. The small beach there is empty, no fast-food restaurents around and only a couple of resorts/holiday homes. Its not like Alibaug, which has almost been transformed into a mini-Mumbai (atleast over the weekends). Talking about the Saswane beach, it is the first beach south of Mumbai along the long Konkan coast-line and hence enjoys a unique distinction. 



Map showing Sasawne right at bottom
center

The place we chose to stay was a wonderful home-stay called Sagar Darshan. Situated just besides the beach, it is maintained by the Apte family for last 20 years or so. And they are quite courteous and hospitable. The rooms are neat and decent (do not expect five-star standards), the food was home-made and wonderful and there was plenty of space just to laze around and do nothing. There is no TV in the rooms and while that meant I did not see the IPL final (not that I missed it), it also meant that I got so much more time to do everything else. Its quite amazing how the absence of TV and the Internet suddenly gives you so much time in life !!. But being a home-stay there are certain ground rules one must follow: its open only for families, lunch and dinner is the standard rice-dal-sabji-roti fare one gets at home (but highly tasty though :) and it needs to be ordered well in advance (there are no eating options outside, in a place which almost goes to sleep after sunset !!). So be careful of these if you plan to go out there and if its OK with you, I can assure you will have the most wonderful time. Alibaug is about an hour's drive away by regular ST buses, which too, I travelled after many years and I really salute these ST services that connect every nook and corner of the state together and are virtually the lifeline of thousands of far-flung villages. Just besides the home-stay is a museum housing the works of the renowned sculptor Late Shri Nanasaheb Karmarkar, which is definitely worth a visit.

Quite and secluded Saswane beach

So whether you have a long weekend coming up or just need a place to relax with your family, Saswaane (and there are many such places along the rich Konkan Coast - check out the website Hotels in Konkan) is definitely recommended. So go ahead and enjoy that break !!

View of the Sagar Darshan
home stay

Unfortunately, this might be the wrong time to post this since once the monsoon arrives, the Gateway-Mandwa catamaran service closes down and these places becomg quite inaccessible (not to mention the heavy rains lashing the coast). But October and thereafter is a great time to visit.

Cheers

Amit

100 Years ago... !

So today marks the centenary of the most famous natural disaster in all of human history. At 23.40 local time on 14th April (8.08 am IST on 15th April), the front of the starboard hit an iceberg, resulting in the sinking of the ship that was thought to be unsinkable and the loss of more than 1500 lives, a motley crew ranging from some of the wealthiest people in the world at the time (a first class suite on the Titanic cost the equivalent of $ 100,000 today !!) and hundreds of emigrants eager to start a new life in the land of hope and opportunity.

Over the past century, no other accident has been so closely examined. Dozens of documentaries have been made that feature various aspects of the Titanic : her design, her pomp and splendour, her maiden voyage and of course, her sinking. There are many theories as to why the biggest passenger ship in the world sank including one, by Robin Gardiner that, controversially, claims that it was, in fact, not the Titanic that sank but her older and sister ship the Olympic and that it did not sink naturally but was actually sunk purposely as part of a big insurance scam (though hopefully, the brains behind this did not mean to see over 1500 people die). This bizzare theory notwithstanding, there are endless debates on what caused the sinking: human error or design flaws. Was the ship too fast ? Could the sinking, so to speak, have been managed better in order to save more lives ? These, and many other questions, have not been conclusively answered to this day. To be fair, it was a confluence of many once-in-a-while factors that played their part in the tragedy'. It is now know that the winter of 1911-12 was one of the mildest in many years, causing significantly more ice to break off from Greenland and the Arctic and drift off, only to come right in the path of the busy Trans-Atlantic shipping routes (even though Titanic took the less dangerous southern route). The sea was exceptionally calm that night (its significance is in the observation that, had the seas been rough, the waves striking the iceberg could have been better visible to the people on the crow's nest). There was also the fact the the Earth and Moon were the closest in hundreds of years in January 1912, causing strong tides that took the icebergs much faster right onto the shipping lanes.  Then, of course, is the whole commerical angle to this fateful tale. The genesis of the Titanic was in the big race between the two premier shipping lines of the time, the White Star Line and the Cunard Line, with each trying to outdo the other in building ever more bigger liners. And, in part, this rivalry had to do with the decision to reduce, fatally in hindsight, the number of lifeboats on the Titanic. From the 64 proposed by the ship's designers, finally only 20 found their way on the ship, ostensibly to free up space and take in more passengers. There are many such stories and coincidences that have their part to play in the legend of the Titanic. Finally, there is the role of the Titanic as part of the larger geo-political picture. Some historians have speculated that the sinking of the Titanic actually started the 21st century as we know it, setting a chain of events that led to a century of World Wars. 

It is 100 years today, but the legend still lives on. And it will for the next 100 years, and even thereafter. There have been other natural tragedies, some that have taken more lives than the Titanic (the 1987 sinking of the MV Dona Paz in the Phillipines is supposed to have claimed about 3000-4000 lives !!) it is the story of the 'largest moving object ever built' that endures through generations. Perhaps, it is because the sinking of the Titanic reminds us that no matter, how grandiose and large we get in our design and engineering, we cannot conquer the forces of nature. Or perhaps it was the assertion that the ship was thought to be 'unsinkable' and that such a man-made structure should be overwhelmed by nature on her very first voyage (maybe if the Titanic had sank say, five years and ten journeys later, the legend would not have been the same).

Whatever the reason might be, the Titanic legend lives on forever !!

Read about Gardiner's theory here.

Amit

Book Review: Steve Jobs

Finally finished reading 'Steve Jobs', the only authorized biography of "the greatest business executive of our era". Written by Walter Issacson, a person with pedigree (former chairman of CNN and managing editor of Time magazine and who has earlier written about Einstien, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger), the biography is an up close and personal look into the life of a person who, most people agree, has shaped much of the digital era that we live in today. Indeed, the loss of Steve Jobs to cancer on October 5th last year triggered an outpouring of grief, even here in India, that is generally reserved only for the odd sportsperson or movie star. The book, which I believe hit the bookstores just after his death, therefore had to deal with very strong sentiments and high expectations. Besides, Issacson probably had the closest relationship with his subject that a biographer can ever hope to get: long conversations with Jobs (while on walks, Jobs' favourite style) and innumerable interviews with almost all the people of any importance in his life: family, friends and foes alike (and he did make a lot of foes !). And the book does very well in delivering on all these expectations.

Jobs: A great read..

Through the book, Isaccson gives a neat account of not just Steve Jobs' life but also, by extension, of the evolution of the digital age right from the first Apple computer in the mid 1970s. Starting from his early life, his views on being put up for adoption after birth, his flirtations with Eastern philosophy and India (he stayed in India for seven months in 1974), followed by his successful partnership with Steve Wozniak to set up what is today the world's valuable organization, the book charts everything in great detail. And even though the book has the blessings of Jobs himself, it is by no means a loaded account of how great Steve Jobs was. It is inevitable that a person who was such a creative visionary would be lousy at relationships with others. And Isaacson does not sugar-coat or temper any criticism towards Jobs expressed by many of the people who Jobs might have turned the wrong way. His obsession with having full control over what was happening around him (that caused many a rift in Apple, including Jobs himself being booted out of the company in 1985), his tendency to view everything (people or products) in binary terms (either they were 'perfect' or they 'were shit' - and a person could move from one group to the other on the same day !!!) and his insistence on ignoring reality when it was not in his favour (his cancer diagnosis or his daughter born out of wedlock), all of these are described in great detail. In fact, reading through the book, one almost feels terrified at the prospect of having to work with him. Inspite of all these faults, Jobs went to create products that successfully married technology and the arts because 'he was right there, at their intersection'. The book also talks at length about Jobs' famous 'reality distortion field', whereby he was able to inspire, or scare, people around him by distorting reality into something that he thought was achievable.

Some of the passages that are quite engaging are the ones that narrate how Jobs was told to leave Apple in 1985 after his dominating style of work did not go down with the board and also his frequent spars with Bill Gates. In fact, the book gives a good insight by delving, at various points, on the relationship between them (who were right at opposite ends of the open and closed technology spectrum). It is quite refreshing to see their frank comments about each other, underpinned by a layer of respect below it. And while the book does not intend to either glorify, or question, Jobs's greatness as a product visionary (I do not quite agree with the first line calling Jobs as the greatest 'business executive'), there is one small paragraph in the book, that, in my mind, best describes Jobs' legacy. It is from Micheal Noer of Forbes.com. Noer was reading a sci-fi novel on his iPad in a rural dairy farm north of Bogota, Colombia. A poor six-year old illiterate boy who was cleaning his stables came up to him. Noer handed over his iPad to the boy. With no instruction manual, and never having seen a computer before in his life, that six-year old began using it intuitively. He began swiping the screen, launching apps and playing a pinball game. Noer wrote : "Steve Jobs has designed a powerful computer that an illiterate six-year old can use without instruction. If that is not magical, I do not know what is !!". While Apple products might not have (yet) changed the world, the passage encapsulates the great beauty of making things simple and intuitive. And no one did this better than Steve Jobs.

Finally, for all Apple devotees (is there any who hasn't yet read the book ? :), it is simply not to be missed. And, like me, if you do not know much about Jobs (or even hates him and his products - there are quite a few of those), this book is still a great read. It offers a wonderful insight into the man, both personally and professionally. And if you end the book with mixed feelings, I think the book would have done its job.

Cheers

Amit

A bit of Customer Orientation: Too much to ask for ??

Of late, the words 'customer centricity', 'customer focus' etc have gained enormous traction in corporate life. For example, Asian Paints, where I work, has adopted customer centricity as their main focus and key result area on which all employees, not just the ones facing the end-consumer, will be judged on (which, of course, means that a large part of our variable pay would be basis the scores on the customer centricity parameter). Such initiatives notwithstanding, when it comes to actual on-the-ground customer service, many of our service companies are light years behind. And as is to be expected, the worst performers on that score are our great government institutions, who almost seem to have a rule of thumb that a customer needs to make atleast 3 trips to the office (if not pay money under the table) before his/her work can be done. Besides this, there are other ways in which government organizations never fail to inconvenience the customer, like having inconvenient timings (closed on weekdays for example). Below is an instance which I experienced today:

I had to get my MTNL landline transferred from my father's name to mine (since my company only reimburses telephone expenses wherein the bills are in the employee's name). After going through the MTNL website, I found a link to download the form for the same. I downloaded it, filled it, my father and me signed at the appropriate places. Next I called up their customer care no. (1500) to ask where to submit the form. I was told to submit the form at the exchange to which my landline belongs to. So today morning, I went there and submitted the same. The lady at the counter tells me that a no-objection certificate from my father is also needed, along with ID proofs of both of us. I replied that my father had already signed an undertaking to transfer the line to my name in the main form. But, no, she said, a NOC is still needed !!! Thus ended my first trip to the exchange. On reaching home, I checked the downloaded form and found there was a Pg 2 which had a NoC form. But on closely looking at it, I realized that the form is only to be filled in case the existing customer has expired. So I called back the local exchange and explained the situation. Ok, they said on realization, a NOC is not required. But then came another twist. The guy on the line told me that I also needed to bring my electricity bill (which is in my name) to prove that the address genuinely belongs to me. Then I again went with all this and finally got my work done in the second attempt.

Now just consider. When I call up 1500, I am neither told to take the NOC nor to carry any ID proofs or other documents. Then the lady at the counter, without even looking at the filled form which is signed by my father (clearly proving he is alive) tells me to get the NoC. But she does not tell me to get a copy of electricity bill. Had I not called the exchange, I would have had to make a third trip just for the electicity bill. Looking back now, all this could have been avoided just by detailing the procedure to be followed for getting a landline transferred on the downloaded form itself !! Is that too much to ask for ? But then, documenting and releasing procedures have their drawback: the clerk at the desk facing the customer would no longer be able to show off his 'power' by subjecting the customer to his random whims and fancies and make him run around.

This is not an isolated incident. I have endured this on several occasions earlier, wherein a seemingly trivial job has taken multiple trips to the government office and several days (thankfully, have not had to grease any palms so far !!). Thus, for anyone, who has no choice but to approach a government official to get his work (quite a few services are online now-a-days, and god bless us all !), I can only offer two pieces of advice:

a. Carry along as many documents as you can (originals and photocopies), however irrelevant they may seem

b. Mentally prepare to spend a long time there, or make 2-3 trips atleast

I will soon be having my next run-in with government officialdom when I get my passport renewed later this year !! May God be on my side then !!

Cheers

Amit

Places to visit before I die.. the Andes !

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page" - St Augustine

The above is one of my favourite quotes. Indeed, the world is a fascinating place to be in. The sheer variety that nature has an offer makes travel such a fulfiling pursuit. Like most others, I am always eager to visit and explore new places in new countries. And like most others, I too have a list of must-visit destinations that I aim to visit atleast once in my lifetime. Till recently, Australia used to top that list. Vast open spaces of the outback, the great Australian love for sport and, of course, the kangaroo made it a really special place to visit. The forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in February-March 2015 provides people like me with the perfect opportunity to marry their love of cricket and their desire to go Down Under. Planning will start in right earnest soon and I will to watch a India game in a packed MCG on that tour. Friends Down Under, have given you nearly 3 years notice :)

While Australia still remains a destination to aim at, the relative ease in getting and staying there (direct flights, friends who have setlled there and the sizable Indian diaspora) mean that it is no longer the exotic place that it might have been a few decades ago. If I were to talk about visiting a completely new place, then the continent of South America would probably be the first place that I would mention. For Indians, who have, by their sheer strength of numbers, have 'colonized' most of the world, South America remains the 'final frontier' :). In fact, most of us (esp. those who do not follow soccer)  would even struggle to name 5 countries in South America apart from Brazil and Argentina. Partly because so little of the place is known to us, it has recently worked its way towards the top of my 'to-do' list. And the main calling card in South America for me are the spectacular Andes range of mountains.

The Salt Pans of Bolivia (Salar de Uyuni)..

At over 7000km long and with an average elevation of 4000m, the Andes are truly close to the Himalayas in laying claim asthe world's most formidable mountain range. And nestled within it are, supposedly, few of the world's most breathtaking places : the ruins of Macchu Picchu in Peru, Lake Titicaca and the Bolivian salt pans (see picture - which when covered with water become the world's largest mirror !!!). It also has one of the most inhospitable terrains on the planet which means, of course, that has one to be physically very fit to attempt some of the treks, including the 4-day long trek to Macchu Picchu. In this, and in many other respects, I am a long way away from attempting my South American adventure. Take the cuisine, for example. For a veggie like me, life can be quite difficult in those areas. And one also needs to have a decent understanding of Spanish in order to interact with the people there. To add to it are the finances and the logistics involved. Given the long travel times involved (a Mumbai- Lima, Peru return ticket costs upward of Rs 1 lakh and total one-way travel time is more than 30 hrs), it makes sense to 'make it large' and cover most of the continent in one trip. That would imply atleast three weeks of stay there and estimated per person cost of about Rs 4-5 lakhs. Still some way to go !!!

But till I manage that, the Andes and South America would remain one of my dream destinations. One day, I will definitely say aloud 'América del Sur, aquí estoy!'

Cheers

Amit

Two books and a movie...

Lately, I have fallen quite behind in terms of my reading. For whatever reason, I have just not been able to spend as much time on reading as I wanted to. This, despite the fact that the last trip to my local bookseller (who gives books on rent - god bless him) in mid-January saw me as bring as much as 4 books. Even after a month and a half, I have finished only 2 of those and have started the third. Also there is a huge backlog of Times Crest articles (since November), whose soft copies are gathering dust (metaphorically speaking :) on my desktop. The story is quite the same when it comes to movies. With the baby at home, it is a long time since I have last gone to the theater. Have got to make do with watching downloaded stuff (old movies only). Clearly, a lot more time needs to be put in both these activities viz. reading and watching movies. Till that time, here are some thoughts on the couple of books and movie that I have finished recently.

The first book that I started off this year was Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 20-20. Frankly, for quite some time, I had not even heard about this book. It was only when I started to see the college-going crowd eagerly lap it up in the local trains that I became curious about it. To add to it, of course, was the name (the book's as well as the author's). But having started reading it with moderate expectations, I must admit it has fallen short. Set mostly in Varanasi, the book has three main characters:  Gopal, a wannabe IIT guy who, after failing it to make it there, joins hands with the dubious local politician and starts his own engineering college. Then there is Aarti, his childhood sweetheart and finally, Raghav the third point of this triangle and a IT-BHU grad-turned-journalist with a mission to expose the corrupt, a mission that brings him into direct confrontation with Gopal. The plot, of course, is nothing new and Chetan Bhagat fails to infuse it with much of life. And for a title like Revolution 20-20, you expect him to go beyond the lives of the three characters and address some of the bigger issues facing society. Sadly, there is not much of that either. And finally, there are hardly any shock moments in the book, so required for a novel that otherwise, has nothing new to say. Surely not amongst Chetan Bhagat's better works and can be safely avoided.

The Ascent of Money: a recommended read..

In contrast, the second book in my list was a pleasure to read. Niall Ferguson (a Harvard professor) has written 'The Ascent of Money' and it is a fascinating read if you are interested either in history or economics. And if you are interested in both, it is simply not to be missed !!. He begins with his central point that far from being reviled as the root cause of most evil in the world, money (in its various forms and hues) has actually facilitated the progress of mankind from medivial times to the prosperity (albeit unequal) where it finds today. He then proceeds to trace the historical evolution of the main pillars of the modern financial system i.e. Banking, Bonds, Stocks, Insurance and Real Estate. In each of these five chapters, Ferguson takes a detailed look at the origins of that sector for e.g. the concept of Bonds took shape in Italy in the 14th century, whereas Insurance as we know it today developed in Scotland in the middle18th century as a means of providing for the wives of the Church members who died unnaturally. It is great to get the historical context of all the things about finance that we take for granted today. He finishes with a chapter on the international linkages in the world of finance and goes on to mention that the financial world is very much akin to the natural world in that, it allows for natural selection, survival of the fittest and is as much vulnerable to outside and unforseen events. Though the book sometimes feels lengthy, it is still a good read and in fact, I believe it should be part (if not directly, then atleast as recommended reading) of any B-school course in finance and economics (if it is not already). For those who do not want to take the pain of reading it (or cannot find a copy), there is also a 4-part video series, which can be found here. And finally, you do not need to be a finance whiz in order to comprehend the book. A basic understanding of the terms would do just as well. As mentioned earlier, a thoroughly recommended book, if only to learn about the past.

Coming to the movie now. Watched the Marathi movie 'Gabhricha Paus' ('The Cursed Rain'). A much-acclaimed 2009 movie about the prevalance of farmer sucidies in Vidarbha, the movie stars Girish Kulkarni and Sonali Kulkarni (starred in Dil Chahata Hai opposite Saif) as the couple Kisna and Alka. The movies begins with a farmer suicide, which then makes Alka fear and obsess that her husband would be the next in line. Kisna, of course, is very much the hard-working and optimist types. After two years of drought, all eyes are on the monsoon clouds as another sowing season approaches. But then, the Cursed Rain comes down in torrents, thus destroying Kisna's hopes of finally getting just reward for this hardwork and toil. The movie, directed by Satish Manwar, may not be a masterpiece, but it definitely takes a sincere look at the troubled times faced by the farmers and has good moments of black humour, none better than at the ending. Also it marks another step in the ascent of Marathi cinema from the run-of-the-mill slapstick comedy variety to a medium that looks at all facets of modern life, both urban and rural. Would heartily recommended seeing it once.

Signing off for now. Have currently started off with Steve Jobs' biography by Walter Isaacson. Will write about that when I finish.

Cheers

Amit

Nagpur tidbits..

The week gone by presented us with an opportunity to take a short vacation. Given that Monday was a bank holiday (Mahashivratri), adding another couple of days of leave gave us a full 5 day break. And off went me, Anjali and Aarya to Nagpur, the place where my in-laws (temporarily) reside. The trip, of course, was planned well in advance which ensured that we got confirmed train tickets, especially on the Vidarbha Express which is known to be booked months in advance (now, of course, with the non-stop Duronto having started, the situation has improved somewhat). Of course, we could have taken the flight, but, given that it was quite sometime (more than 2 yrs) since we last experienced a longish train journey, we decided to undertake the 14 hr trip. Being an overnight journey, our prime concern obviously was how would Aarya cope up with her first experience of the train.

As we boarded the Vidarbha Epress last Saturday, those concerns receeded somewhat. A word about the AC coaches. Our coach was one of the newer ones to be inducted into the Railways and therefore, was quite impressive. Though I still cannot understand two things a. Why do they need to have curtains in every compartment ? and b. Why cannot a train of such a stature not have a pantry car ?. Thank God for the Aloo Parathas that we had the presence of mind to carry from home. Else we would have been struggling to fill our tummies. The standard biryani that was offered was, to put it midly, no great shakes. Coming back to Aarya, she thankfully put to rest all our fears regarding adaptability. Our worst nightmare was that she will wake up howling in the middle of the night and shake up the entire bogie out of their collective slumber. But thankfully, nothing of the sort happened :). After having her daily dose of milk around 11.30 ish, she went to sleep. Her only grouse was that the berth that she was sharing with her Mom did not give her the space to toss around while sleeping as she does at home. And for this reason, she was sufficiently irritated, as she made it clear by crying every half an hour so. A few quick pats on the back put her back to sleep again. And with this major problem being overcome, we awoke on Sunday morning and landed in Nagpur.

This was my second visit to Nagpur. Both have been in February, which is probably the best time to visit that city. Otherwise, Nagpur, like most of central India, can be brutally hot or cold. And this time, like the last, I quite liked the city. While I cannot claim to have seen a major part of the city, the parts which I did see (near the Station, Dharampeth, Burdi etc) were quite good. The place where we stayed (at the RBI quarters where my mother-in-law works) was even more impressive. Nice and wide roads, less of traffic and no major commercial centers meant that the Civil Lines area is wonderful to have a stroll either early in the morning or after dinner. On Monday, we went to the nearby holy place of Ramtek (about 70 kms away). Ramtek is supposed to be the place where Lord Rama is supposed to have visited and stayed in his exile and hence there is the standard fare of temples and lakes on offer there. Nagpur also, is the ideal base location if you are a wildlife lover. Major national parks like Pench (90km) and Tadoba (150km) can be covered in a day each. We had visited Pench last time around. It was my first experience of a wildlife reserve and I loved every moment of it. Other attractions in Nagpur include the so-called 'zero-milestone' that is supposed to be the geographic center of India :). And finally, if you are in Nagpur, it is impossible to escape one ubiquitous name. Haldirams is all over Nagpur. And not just sweets and farsan, in Nagpur you get Haldiram's bread, milk etc etc. I heard that they are also foraying into the education business !! Haldiram's Institute of Engineering anyone ? :)

After a good break of four days, we were back in Mumbai on Thursday morning, feeling refreshed and with happy memories of Nagpur.

Cheers

Amit

SPCE alumni meet.. trip down memory lane.. Part Two !!!

As mentioned in my previous post, here is the balance part of the post on the SPCE Alumni get-together, though quite a bit late.. :(

After the walk down memory lane through the college campus that got me all nostalgic, it was time for the evening programme to start. On the dias were the current principals of SPCE and SPIT and the other office bearers of the alumni association. Currently, Dr. PH Sawant from Civil Engg dept. is the SPCE Principal. I do not recollect him from our days, so must have joined recently. Dr. Prachi Gharpure (looking lovely as always) is the Principal of the unaided wing. For my Mech classmates, our Prof. A V Bhonsale (Engineering Controls anyone ?) is now the HOD of Mech department as also the Vice-Principal. Apart from these, the only other profs. whom I knew that day were Dr. Shubha Pandit (HOD-Elect) and, of course, the tireless and good-ol Prof. VD Raul. In charge of the alumni network, the man's energy is amazing. During the course of the evening, it was revealed that Prof. Raul has tried to kickstart the Alumni network movement thrice so far. The first two times (in the 1990s) it died a natural death but with the latest attempt having started in 2005 (the Annual Alumni meet started in 2005) and still continuing, hopefully it will be third time lucky for Prof. Raul and the Alumni office-bearers.

Coming to the audience, there were, quiet dissapointingly, only about 100 odd alumni who turned up. A huge chunk of them, of course, were from the 1986 batch who were celebrating the silver jubilee reunion. The joy on their faces as they met old batchmates and came back to their alma mater was something to savour. It was also heartening to see Sh Kothare from the 1967 batch show up !!!.. (Must have been the second batch out of campus). But apart from these, the turn out was quite low. In fact, there was not a single person there whom I knew or recognized, which would mean that possibly none from the 1999 to 2002 batch was present :(. As the speeches and the felicitations were going on, I chanced to see a copy of DISHA 2010 and spent good time browsing through it. It provided a good overview of the college activities and was especially heartening to see the strides we have made on the sports field. In fact, SPCE now boasts of a women's basketball team (can you believe that ?) plus other traditional sports like volleyball, football etc. In addition, we already have a alumni who has played for India U-19 in cricket. In Saurabh Netravalkar, we might see a future Indian cricketer from SPCE. All the very best to him !!. Interestingly, there is a now a system of a joint General Secretary, with one representative each from SPCE and SPIT jointly handling the post. Wonder how they work together !! :) After the function was over, it was time to chit-chat over dinner, which rounded off a nice evening.

Before I finish, a word about the enthu for the event. Quite shocking to see only about 100 of the 5000+ (and that is a conversative figure) alumni show up. In fact, one of the key discussion points which I had with the office-bearers during dinner was how to fix this low turnout. For starters, alumni could all register at the Alumni website i.e. http://alumni.spce.ac.in/. This would be a useful starting step whereby atleast our contact details would get recorded in the alumni database and thus, we would get intimations regarding future events conducted by SPCE-AA. I am glad to find 7 others from our Mech-Class of 2000 already registered there, but more are definitely needed. The Alumni Association is also present on Twitter (@spceaa), though not very active. Hopefully that will change soon as more of us follow and interact regularly with the alumni association on Twitter. Small steps like these would help increase the awareness levels regarding the alumni network, which is so vitally important for the growth and development of the institution. Would urge all SPCE/SPIT alumni reading this to not only register on the alumni website but also to share this with their classmates. In 2012, SPCE's 50th year, it is the least we can do to kickstart the process of having a vibrant alumni network.

Hope to see more of you around at the next alumni reunion in January 2013.

Till then...

Cheers

Amit

SPCE alumni meet.. trip down memory lane.. Part One !!!

Last weekend (on the 7th to be precise) gave me an opportunity to visit my Engineering college i.e. Sardar Patel College of Engineering (or SPCE for short). For the uninitiated, SPCE, which is celebrating its 50th year in 2012, is one of the premier engineering colleges in Mumbai University. In fact, it has recently received autonomy status. Living in Mumbai and just a couple of stations away from Andheri, where SPCE is, I am guilty, and rightfully so, of not visting the college more often. The one occasion that presents itself is the annual alumni meet of the college, that generally happens on the second weekend of every new year. The alumni meet started in 2004 and I have attended it a couple of times so far. But have missed it, mostly due to my own laziness, the past couple of years. So this year, when the e-mail from the indefatigable Shashikant Banka from the SPCE Alumni Association landed in my inbox, I knew I had to go. Even though a post on Facebook (to check if any of my friends were interested in tagging along) failed to get a positive response, I then decided to do it alone.

Now since the best way of reviving past memories is to actually relive them, I decided to take the train and walk from Andheri station. The road from Andheri station to SPCE, of course, has changed beyond recognition over the past decade. The pillars of the still under-construction Metro line stand right in the middle of the road, which is now partially closed to traffic. Quite different from our days when a simple walk on that road in the evenings was maddening with the terrible honking of buses and auto-rickshaws around and the ever-growing numbers of pedestrians. Of course, some old landmarks are there e.g. Navrang theater (which I best remember when our Mech class, then in 3rd year, had gone to watch a supposedly soft-porn movie and came back bitterly let-down ;-). These, and other thoughts, kept flooding in my mind as I neared the Bhavan's campus. Outside the campus, Shetty's Chinese is still around and so is our dear ol' Gupta ji (albeit in a completely renovated form: It is also called differently, forgot the name though). Unfortunately, I did not see him around that day. But opposite to them is the Vrindavan restaurent, opened probably 2-3 years ago. The usual all-cuisine Udipi restaurent, the food tastes great (they had provided the dinner at the alumni meet). But I guess the current batches, which might be used to Vrindavan, might not fully understand the importance of Guptaji and Shetty's in those four years :). I then entered the Bhavans campus, which also looks different from a decade back. The road from the entrance to SPCE is nicely paved now. SP Jain has a well-maintained garden in front of it and the temple in the campus also looks more impressive. But one thing that has still not changed is the typical odour of birdshit that hits you when you near the SPCE building :). Especially, going at the time when I did i.e. just after sunset, the odour is just too strong to ignore. It was the same in 2000, it is the same in 2012 as well !! :)

Finally entered the SPCE building at around 6.45pm. The registration for the function was actually only till 6.30pm but I discovered that not too many people were around and the official part of the meet was some time away from starting. After a couple of cups of coffee and some chit-chat, I set out to re-discover the SPCE building. And the thing that struck me was that the basic building has not changed one bit over the past 12 years of so. Of course, most would know that the non-aided branches (i.e. Comps, Electronics, IT and the recently started Electronics and Telecom) have now been spun off into a new college i.e. Sardar Patel Instititute of Technology (SPIT) few years back and which houses itself in a brand-new building behind the SPCE building. Thankfully, the alumni meet was for both SPCE and SPIT !. As I roamed the workshop (looking much the same only with a few offices newly added at the rear end) and the main building, the memories kept on coming. The two walls at the main staircase reminded me of SPACE 1999 where we had put together a huge full-scale painting as part of the decorations. The various notice boards displayed the latest goings-on in the college, including an offer to students of the Akash tablet for around 1200 bucks !!. The quadrangle has been converted into a mini-auditorium with a steel frame overneath and fans hung from there. Sad to see that playing box cricket will no longer be possible there :). Much of the remaining building is as it is including, I believe, the paint on the exterior, all worn out and in desperate need of a re-coat. Could not get the time to go to the hostel though.

After the tour around college, got back to the quadrangle for the function. Will write about the alumni function itself in a follow-up post. Till then, keep reading and feel free to share it with your other SPCE friends and batchmates.

To be continued...

Cheers

Amit