Shyam's Blog

We (5 friends) started from Bangalore on June 13 2019 night from Bangalore to Delhi. My plan was to reach Leh on Friday morning at 7:10am. My 4 friends took the road on Friday morning to drive 400kms to Leh. I reached Leh as per plan. My host (Tenzin) picked me up at the airport. The drive from airport to homestay was 10 minutes only. I stayed at The Golden Apricot on Fort Road. Landed in Leh I was served upma for breakfast. The owner of the hotel told me to rest for the day to acclimatize with the height and weather. Upma for breakfast on Day-1 After resting for 3-4 hours, I was kicking to roam around. I hired a two wheeler and had Google maps as my assistant. Hired 2-wheeler Rode to Thiksey Monastery that is 30 minutes away from Leh, about 15 kms. This ride was the most memorable one for me as I hadn't ridden a 2-wheeler for more than 15 years. With Google maps, I had all the freedom to roam around like a local person. I reached Thiksey on Leh Manali high...

I visited Ladakh with friends in June 2019. There are few things that I learnt and like to share with people who plan to visit Ladakh. Ladakh: Leh, Kargil, Nubra Valley, Tso Moriri, Pangong Tso Places to visit: Leh city, Tso Moriri (Lake), Pangong Tso, Kargil and Dras, Nubra Valley. Minimum days required:  10 days. Ways to reach Ladakh: (a) By Flight from Delhi to Leh. (b) By road from Manali or Srinagar to Leh. Permit is required to visit interiors of Ladakh. Agents can help to get the permit. It is recommended to hire a taxi/cab in the region. It is not advisable to drive our own car. For bike enthusiasts, you may rent a bike in Leh to cover entire Ladakh. Tso Moriri 1. Plan to go there in the months of July, August and Sept. We went in the 2nd-3rd week of June. Due to snowfall and road closures, we had a tough time in rescheduling our tour itinerary. Though roads usually open in first week of June, 2019 was different. The later you visit, lesser snow you wi...

The two joined our family.

Usual Traffic on regular days in Bangalore Traffic scene during 'Bundh' day

I couldn't think of a better title to this post than putting '12 months'. This blog is to recollect the last 12 months. There is always a story for becoming successful - it could be exam, or career, or business. But, mine is a story with a difference. My story is still in the middle of recovery to path of success. Last 12 months have been the toughest part of my life. The first part of this was dark and deep in the tunnel, while, the second half saw ray of hope. Having a disease at its peak for long duration is next to being in a dark dungeon with no food or water. Being hospitalized 6 times made me feel that nurses are going to be my friends for future and doctors will be my Protectors on this earth. I thank everybody who came in my path of this life for their support and wishes. I tried following their advice for most part. At times, I couldn't stick to their instructions due to my limitations. Family, friends, neighbors, office-mates, well-wishers, etc - al...

Took kids to the movie, The Jungle Book (3D). They liked it. The movie is well made with good graphics and effects. In few instances, I felt that they have Americanised the movie in few places. Example, "bander-log" is Hindi word for monkey people. In the movie, it is pronounced as some English word. Good movie to watch with kids this Summer.

Seeing the wave Indian PM is creating in the US, it is hard to imagine how technology can really raise India from the current situation. From a basic standpoint, I want 24/7 electricity, good drinking water, and good roads. While the State Governments blame the Central Government, Centre doesn't care too much of the state as the ruling parties are different. Because of tussle between State and Central, sufferers are the citizens. How can technology of Internet and foreign investments improve roads in Bangalore?!!! How can Googles and Facebooks help me provide 24/7 electricity? India and its states must unite first to have a common goal to meet the basic needs of every citizen. Till this is not achieved, there is always friction between states and Central Government which will halt progress of country. On the other hand, there are other important aspects of education and healthcare that needs attention. If affordable schooling and medical facilities are available in all corne...

Visited Ooty recently. Started off from Bangalore on Friday morning at 9:30am. Midway, took a tea break in Shivalli restaurant near Channapatna (about 60 Kms away from Bangalore). Route: Bangalore -> Mysore -> Nanjanagudu -> Gundlupet -> Bandipur National Park -> Theppakadu -> Masinagudi -> 36-hairpin bends -> Ooty Note: We need not go to Gudalur to reach Ooty. But, Road transport buses takes Gudalur route. Road Conditions: After crossing Mysore, road between Mysore and Nanjanagudu was not the best of state roads. Also, after Nanjanagudu, road to Gundlupet was undergoing repair at regular intervals. Apart from these patches, road was very good to reach Bandipur. Inside Bandipur, road was good, but, speed limit was about 30Kmph. We reduced speed and did wildlife watching. After crossing Bandipur, we reached Masinagudi (Tamil Nadu). From here, it took is about an hour to hit the base of Nilgiris. From here starts 36 hairpin bends to Ooty. Our resort, My...

Daily, table topic in office is about traffic jam while commute in Bangalore. Traffic is always high and slow moving in IT corridors. It takes 90 minutes to cover a distance of 20 Kms, i.e., average speed of about 15 Km/hr. Main reasons for slow moving traffic: 1. Excess traffic on road during peak hour. 2. Bus/truck breakdown 3. Bad road condition due to digging or overnight rain creating water logging areas. There seems to be no solution to this concern. But, with existing resources and funds, there are possible areas of improvement: 1. Improve road conditions. Never allow for potholes to grow bigger day-by-day. 2. Clear broken down vehicle at the earliest. Hanging a branch of a tree to the window of the vehicle is an indication that vehicle is broken down. Police should try to move the vehicle to a safer zone and avoid slowing down vehicular movement. Best times to commute to/from office: Before 7:30am and after 11:00pm. Peak hours: 7:30am to 11:00a...

I completed reading a book about Indian history this weekend and was shocked and disappointed by the way things took shape in the years 1947-48. Few points noted: 1. British didn't want to hold on with Indian land as the country was breaking apart in riots. 2. Mountbatten was given the task to finish handing of this part of the land to the people of sub-continent. 3. He completed the task along with support from British and few Indians. From Congress, representatives were Nehru, Patel and Gandhi and from the Moslem League, it was Jinnah. 4. Racliffe was invited from Britain to mark the partition boundary. He knew least about the terrain and hence was chosen to be unbiased! This marking of border was a major controversy and head to confusion and riots along the border. 5. In the first week of June 1947, Mountbatten announced that Britain had agreed to handover and move out of India. Conditions were: Partition will be done. Pakistan and India will be two countries as per demand...

After reading the book 'Breaking India' by Rajiv Malhotra, I am thinking about recent history since 1990. In the past 15 years, we have seen India getting into the world map in terms of IT. On one side, we feel proud that India has evolved as a global major and is termed as prospective super power next to US and China. On the other side, we don't realize the possible mistake that was done in the 1980s by the so called entrepreneurs within India. Whenever we start something new, we are always circumspect. This is specifically in case of business and investments. When Indian IT companies kicked off 2-3 decades ago, their main goal was to do things that they people felt right. They would have hardly thought of revolutionizing Indian life 15 years down. They started business for their own success. What has this done to the greater India? It has created a gap among the people by splitting the population into IT and non-IT crowd. Also, this has created a gap of 15 years in te...

Last night, I was introducing my wife to the concept of Toastmasters Club and had shown her few 'Humorous Speech' videos from Youtube. She instantly gave me the topic, "One Sunny Morning". I couldn't think much at the moment as RCB was losing to SRH in the IPL match. After reaching office today, I called my wife and narrated the below story, "One Sunny Morning": This morning, after getting ready, I started walking towards my cab at 7am. Just then, I started hearing the 'lapp-tapp' sound from my left foot. For my surprise the sole had chipped off in front. I reached the gate and thought of telling the cab driver to stop me on the way to office to buy fevi-quik. Fortunately or unfortunately, the driver was busy working with changing the flat tyre. This gave me good reason to run back home and wear another pair of shoes. As I walked, the sound, 'lapp-tapp' increased. For people taking the morning walk, my walk looked peculiar which ...

It was good experience to be a vendor today and sell kadlepuri and panipuri. Our apartment organises this food event every year. Rule is food should be prepared by residents and sold by residents. This year, arrangements started 2 weeks in advance. I had convinced my wife to keep a stall and sell something unique. Kadlepuri was the first option. As a second option, panipuri was decided. Though we had thought of many other options like 'vusli', 'Maddur vada' and chapati-saagu, because of time constraints, we decided to skip these items. Mom and wife discussed in length about items to prepare in the past 2 weeks and had put a detailed plan. On the day of event, wife and son woke up early and prepared a small banner, "Taste of Karnataka". Mom arrived with kadlepuri and quantity was less. We shopped for kadlepuri couple of hours before the event and arranged everything by 4pm. For me, I had dressed similar to street vendor and roamed around the venue calling ...

We completed our Rajasthan trip successfully. Planning started couple of months in advance and we started from Bangalore on Dec 19th and returned on Dec 30th. Pictures: Here . With approximately 2 days each in each destination, we covered Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Mode of transport from one city to another was either by RSRTC Volvo/Mercedes bus OR train. This was convenient and saved a lot of money from our wallet. Apart from Jaipur-Udaipur stretch which is about 420 Kms, other places are about 300 Kms apart and should take 5 hrs each to cover the distance. Within each city, we used auto, local cab or Ola cabs (by booking via App). Food was amazing. Tea was the best wherever we had. Not to mention the best part - Sweets. Nowhere else we will find such lovely sweets. Few memorable things: 1. Food, sweets and tea 2. Weather - It was freezing cold. Though we were prepared for it, it took a while for us to get used to it. 3. Palaces and their grand...

Visited Goa on road last week. Road condition on NH4 is excellent. Road from Hubli to Panaji via Alnavar is bad. We took this route in onward journey. While returning, we took Panaji-Belgaum-Hubli-Bangalore route. The road between Panaji and Belgaum is very good and scenic too. Total highway toll would cost around Rs. 1,500 for a round trip if you are travelling in your own car. Total distance from Bangalore is 750 Kms. A stopover in Hubli is recommended. From Bangalore, it would take about 6 hours to reach Hubli without any breaks. From Hubli, it would take maximum of 5 hours to reach Panaji via Belgaum. Traffic between Bangalore and Tumkur is heavy. Once you cross Tumkur, road is all yours with minimum traffic and you can easily drive at 110 Kms/hr. Road map from B'ore to Panaji, Goa National Highway 4 (NH4) Scenic Drive from Panaji to Goa Chorla Ghats Visit to Baga Beach and Calangute Beach was nice. Dona Paula had jet ski and it was a quick ride for le...

Our visit to Mysore was a memorable one. With couple of family gatherings to attend, we wanted our kids to enjoy some of the main attractions of Mysore. Zoo is a good place to start Mysore tour. Getting there at 9:30am or so is recommended as we saw less crowd and sun was not at its peak. It takes around 4Kms of walking inside. Kids need to be able to sustain that energy throughout the walk. There could have been attractions for kids like, elephant show or alike which are seen in other zoos. Apart from watching animals from far, kids don't have any activity based entertainment. KRS visit on one evening was a flop. We landed there at 6pm and the crowd was huge. We entered, finished a quick walk and returned home as we didn't think it was worth staying with the crowd. Mysore Palace is one of the best palaces in India. Photography inside palace is not allowed. Pictures can be taken from outside and camera has to be put in locker before going in. Though th...

I traveled in train after many years. From the last train journey in India till now, I traveled in many other places outside India and I was curious to experience the Indian Railways hospitality. Booking was done in First Class A/C for an overnight journey from Bangalore to Dharwad in Rani Chennamma Express. After reaching the Railway Station an hour early, I checked the platform I need to be in. The station in first look, looked very crowded. Quickly, I agreed to myself that it must look busy and filled with people as train travel is the most efficient and cheapest mode of transport in India. It was ticking 9pm and train started on the dot. Once I settled in my first class cabin, I looked around to see identify some of the key features/facilities. Noticed the below: 1. Electrical points for charging laptop/phone. 2. Electronic indicator of restroom vacancy status - this was interesting. 3. A cute reading light near the head. Slide it, it switches OFF. Open it, light switches ON....

Visited Jungle Lodge Resorts, Bannerghatta on Jan 10-11, 2014. The visit started off with lunch and then followed by Safari tour. Butterfly park was not attractive as the season is non-breeding one. Best time to see butterflies is in Monsoon. Safari tour is done in a jeep/van that is owned by the resort. First is the bear safari. The bear came close to the van to check for food. Loin safari was restricted as there was construction/renovation. Tiger safari too was restricted and there were only 2 tigers. White tigers were great and we got nice glimpse of 2 of them as they came near our van. Herbivorous safari with bison, deer, and black buck were good to see. Food in the resort was good. Hospitality by resort hosts was nice. Staying overnight in the tent/log house is a nice experience that one must not miss. Photos here .

Recently, I got a chance to drive around South India and cover about 2000 Kms in a span of 10 days. Started off with a trip to Pondicherry and Chennai. Then, a quick trip to Belur. Ended my travel today with a surprise visit to Yelagiri. My first outcome of these trips - Driving on National Highway is good and easy compared to 2 decades ago. This is mostly because, all the NHs are tolled and are constructed by private companies like L&T, GMR, etc with partnership with the government. Next outcome - there are lot many opportunities in future as kids grow older. Am sure, there are places in Karnataka that are interesting and worth visiting. Car - i10 automatic gave the comfort of driving on these highways.