TRAVELOGUE

DAY1:

We assembled at Bandra terminus by 10.45 am.One could easily see the excitement on everybody’s eyes.Soon we got into our bogie and the fun began.Our group had 14 people:me,swapnil,yogesh,sandeep,kavan,advait raut ,advait badnaikar,ajay,abhijit,nikhil,pratik,sachin,jagrut,and last but not least..nitin.Train journey began with the usual stuff:cards,antakshari,jokes…etc.The dinner in the train was OK.As the night progressed,it slowly started getting colder.We got down at almost every station till 3 am.

DAY2:

This day began very early.We all had atmost 3 hrs sleep and woke up at 7 am.BTW toilets of second class compartments sux.We reached Ambala Cantt at 4 pm.Then had a grulling 7 hr journey to shimla with dinner on the way.We checked in the hotel at 2 am.Our group was distributed in 3 rooms.

DAY 3:

Woke up at about 8 am,had breakfast at 9am.The combination of train and bus journey had made us all tired.Since we had free time,we decided to scan Shimla.We all just were wandering aimlessly for about 3 hours.Had lunch at 1 pm and then headed out to Mall road.Some shopped for books,some for muffler,etc

As the night began,it slowly started getting cold.From here on till Chandigarh,you could see almost everybody with sweaters,gloves,mufflers.After the dinner,we all assembled in one room, n watched

Roadies.

DAY 4:

Early morning breakfast was followed by journey to kufri.It was 2 hr journey.We then headed upwards in the mountain on the horse.The horse journey was full of tp.Sometimes,the horse scared the shit out of us.After reaching the top, we had the most amazing sight.THERE WAS SNOW EVERYWHERE!!!!!We started playing with the snow,the usual stuff,making balls of snow and hurling it everywhere.Little did we realize that it was going to be costly afterwards.Some visited a small temple nearby,while some started clicking photographs wth Yak.While coming down we realized that the snow we picked was now turing into water.Our shoes and gloves were completely soaked.When we reached down we had our lunch at 7pm.The heater at that restaurant helped us a lot!!!We then headed to our hotel and checked to make night journey to manali.As the night progressed,it really was getting colder.The 9 hr journey was the toughest of the trip.Nobody made a sound throughout that journey .since everybody was tired.

DAY 5:

As we woke up,we were surrounded by beautiful snow clad mountains of Manali.We checked in at about 9.30 am.Ours(me,swapnil,yogesh,advait,kavan,advait) was a duplex room and sceney from the window was too picturesque too believe.After breakfast,we went to the river which was flowing right in front of our hotel.The water was as cold as ice!!After lunch we headed towards Hidimba temple and Vashisht Kund Temple.As the sun set in the mountains at 5 pm,it slowly started getting cold.We ,then did a little bit of shopping at Mall road.The walk from Mall road to our hotel was one of the highlights of our trip.The night time was allocated for favourite game of our group :Dumb Charades

DAY 6:

River rafting was something everybody had only seen on Tv.We were provided gears and were told to remove our shoes in the bus.As we sat in the raft,our legs became almost numb by the cold water of the river.Soon our guide started paddling the raft through the river.We all were told to hold on to the ropes at the side of the raft.It was one of the most exhiliriating things I have ever done.We then headed to our hotel for lunch.Evening was free time. Hence,we( i.e our group) went to Tibetan Monastery,which was walking distance from Mall road.The serenity of Buddha statue had an overwhelming effect on us.There was a small shop near theTibetan monastery.My friends were shopping at that shop for nearly 45 min.Seriously ,complete waste of time!!!

DAY 7:

Rohtang pass is closed during the winter.Hence we headed to Solang valley.For us,mumbaikars,Solang valley is heaven.We all did skiing for about 45 min.There were a lot of Kodak moments during the session.After skiing we climbed up the mountain a little.Some of us headed towards a temple on horses.We reached hotel for late lunch.The skiing took most of the energy from us.Hence the evening was spent in sleeping.The early dinner was followed by long night journey to Chandigarh.

DAY 8:

We reached Chandigarh at almost noon.The lunch was followed by a visit to sector 17 and sector 22 in Chandigarh. Sector 17 is almost like the Fashion Street of Mumbai where you get everything at half the price.On the other hand,Sector 17 has all the branded apparels.The bargaining saga continued here,too.Since we had to leave early morning next day,this day ended a little early for all of us.

DAY 9:

The day began at 5.30 am for all of us.This bus journey from C’garh to Delhi was probably the most comfortable of all since the road was an Expressway.We reached New Delhi Railway station at 4 pm and off we went on our way back home.This time the seats of our group were spread across 2 bogies.Somehow we managed to have fun together despite the arrangement of seats.

DAY10:

The last day began early with the usual “painting the face with tooth paste”.The cards game were the best way to spend time.The last of the photos were clicked in the morning and the good byes were said.As we landed on Andheri Station at 3.30 pm ,we all were bit of both , sad and happy.Till next time..its ADIOSS from me and my group!!!!!

ANGER,ANGUISH,FRUSTRATION...ETC

Whatever has happened over the last week is just beyond me.People have lost their lives.Some are making shameless comments ,while others are using this opportunity to state their political agenda.Had my exam today,so couldnt post it immediately after the terror attacks.First and foremost,Kerala CM's comment on a martyr Major Unnikrishnan just made my blood boil...I mean this is how you reward a family who has given their son's life to the country.How dare he says that???? ..and after much thinking I came to the conclusion that- "Even dogs are better than Kerala CM".Second point that i would make is "When will India up its security measures?"...Just have a look at USA..After 9/11,no one even dares to attack them.The Govt should start hiring private security and arm itself with sophisticated weapons.Also the security of hopeless politicians could certainly and should be trimmed.Give every state police modern weapons and also increase the intake.The third and probably the most important...Find Dawood Ibrahim..wherever he is...n bring him to India...if that cant happen find him n kill him.I have seen common man getting angry but this time he is boiling with anger and whole lot of emotions.Something must happen and fast,now.

Comment of the week

The SENSEX has dropped like the batting average of a batsman who has forgotten to pack his bat.
-Harsha Bhogle,in his weekly column on espnstar.com

Comment of the week

"The Australian attack is a popatwadi attack."
-Sunil Gavaskar on a news channel

Comment of the week

"If the recession is severe,eventually everybody gets slaughtered at some point."
-Tavis McCourt,analyst at Morgan Keegan Company

Tit for Tat

Read a few days ago about how Real Madrid is furious with Chelsea because of their public pursuit of Robinhio.Had a big laugh after reading it.Reminded me of their pursuit of Ronaldo and since me being a Big Manu fan,I was especially happy at these sudden turn of events.In short Real Madrid got a taste of their own medicine.Although in the end Man City came from nowhere to buy him,Real now know that they arent the only 'DADA' in the European football.Another interesting piece of newspaper article worth mentioning is Symonds incident.When Bhajji was fined for his Slapgate,every Aussie newspaper highlighted how indisciplined Bhaji really is.They just went berserk.Now,its the turn of Indian Media to turn on the heat on Symmo.IF he comes to India in October or in April for IPL,the media will question every move of his.Like they say "Tit For Tat"

Of Bolts and Bullets

Beijing 08 Olympics have been hogged by only 2 men.Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt.The 100 m race is always considered a showpiece event in any Olympics because anybody that wins this race is awarded the "FASTEST MAN ON THE EARTH" title.Past Olympics have always produced sensational performances from best athletes.This time it was touted as the battle of the big THREE.But as it turned out Tyson Gay didnt even qualify and the final was 1 horse race.Bolt was so superior than the rest that he jogged for the last 50m.Had he raced at full speed he would have clocked 9.6 sec.It was almost as if he was mocking his rivals in the end.As for the other highlight of this Olympics,Phelps has been in sensational form.To aim at an impossible target and achieve it is a feat by itself.Except 100m Butterfly and the 4X100m relay races ,the rest were won with atleast 2-3 sec to spare.Also the 100m butterfly was the closest race of all time.Phelps won by a whisker.Named as "BALTIMORE BULLET",his journey as a world beater has been phenomenal.In his youth, Phelps was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) He started swimming at age seven, partly because of the influence of his sisters and partly to provide him with an outlet for his energy.
PS:New Synonym in OXFORD's DICTIONARY
PHELPS:phenomenal,sensational,outstanding