What final it was? There was a great knock from Mahila Jaywardena. Every boundary hit during last 5 overs was adding immense pressure. At the break someone asked me to predict. I said India will win, because
1. it was easy pitch to bat on as batsmen like Perrera and kulasekhara were hitting out bowlers like zaheer.
2. we had played lankan bowlers atleast 30-40 times in past two years and had chased much bigger targets.
Its that experience and belief that counted. Imagine india of 90s with sachin gone. we would have been all out 170s with some one holding one fort till end while a little cameo of 30 odd fast runs by some bowler. Not this team. Opposition fears Yuvraj, dhoni and gambhir as well. Then there is X factor of Pathan, Raina or bhajji. Not add that they are shit scared of sehwag and SRT. Bowling comes under severe pressure when someone bowls team india. This was evident even against Australia. That was tougher chase than final. we were 5 down and one wicket away from tail with 80 odd runs to get. Role played by sachin, gambhir etc was again crucial then which allowed us to survive middle order collapse. That match gave team belief and that made difference. I was very sure that we would beat pak and srilanka . In fact my close friends can vouch for that. Innings from Ponting was also great at ahmedabad. This world cup i had a chance to witness in person two great innings: one at Nagpur the 99th hundred for losing cause, and one by ponting for another losing cause. This makes cricket a team game and individual brilliance may or may not guarantee success.
That was the thing of past. Only sachin playing for lost cause.
Last 7 world cups we had be dissappointed as per above script though in 03 we had a team effort led by dada. its dada who laid foundation to rise of India in cricketing sense. coming back to world cups;
in 87, i was in IX . and those were diwali vacations. I had enjoyed cup in mumbai and pune. Sweeps of grahan gooch and vengasrkar's stomach upset costed us more that loose shot by kapil when we were crusing. remember jubiliation day before when pak was destroyed by Mc dermott
in 92 when i was preparing for JEE, the campaign never took off in australia. First world cup for sachin. we beat pakis, but lost to austraia due to rain rule. Lost to england, NZ, WI listlessly.
in 96 , i was in hostel and final year. Had seen every match as its most relaxed time after getting campus etc. Had a great victory procession all around kharagpur after we beat pakis. Dhoni was in kharagpur for 3 yrs as ticket collector. Its water of Kharagpur you know what makes everyone cool and tough.... But srilanka match was disaster even after getting dangerous kalu and jaysurya in first two overs. Till sachin was batting in 2nd innings there everything was fine....
in 99, we played two bad games : one gainst zimbabwe where we lost from winning position (sachin was absent for this match due to his fathers death), and one against Australia where Mcgrath outswinged us. These matches got us at bottom of table due to supersix rules. Only consolation was victory against pak as those were Kargil days. I was engaged during that world cup. another memories from mumbai.
in 03, riyas first world cup. she was 1.5 yrs old. she used to see matches with me. my grandma passed away a day after world cup final. India vs pak was highlight though team played well under ganguly to come out of humiliation against austraila in group stages, to beat all other teams till get humiliated by aussies again in final. yet near yet so far.
07 was disaster. newly joined to round table, I had arranged great parties for both matches but lost them both.
2011 was the cup. which brought back memories in 83 i had just started my 5th standard and highschool. we were staying in temporrary home as main house was under construction. we had old crown b/w TV. I remember shrikants shots, during half time we were dissappointed except one uncle who had predicted india win since start of world cup. Then that sandhu ball. We had news on TV for an hr , when we were back , WI were 5 down. we danced that evening...all over pune
in 2011, We partied a lot at table this world cup. had a chance to see live matches.
Now the god of cricket has everything in life. soon he will reach 100 hundreds. Many people have anologies for growth and liberalization of India to rise and career of Sachin. I agree to an extent. Really the growth of sachin can be paralleled with growth in wealth and purchasing power of Indian middle class enabled by new economy esp by IT. Today people like me can spend sizable money just to be at stadium. My earlier generation in 83 would not have atleast in my community. (white collored, middle class mentality with small town upbringing)
riya is 9.5 yrs old. she now understands cricket. i have passed on my crkcet craze this world cup. She is now what i was in 83.. she will join 4th next year. Entire circle has turned round.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Cheering for India
50,000 people walking out. all crestfallen. some are silent, some are cursing, some anxious to get out their car from the mess, some hungry, some thirsty for spirits.
That was 10 45 pm at Nagpur outside VCA Jamtha stadium just after Robin Peterson hit Nehra the winning boundary. some clever people rsuhed out immediately after peterson hit second ball for six over long on : farthest point where we were sitting.
Just imagine reverse scenario if Peterson would have giving catch to bhajji at long on or nehra would have been able to produce dot ball.... The same crowd would have seen dancing out of stadium amidst drums bugles, flags, shouts for India-India. Many would have waited till Man of the match interview to end.... And i would have ended my dream come true in most ideal pattern. But if wishes were horses. There was sad ending , final twist in tale. But what i witnessed was amazing.
Cricket is just another sport. It is not here in India. Its mass opium. Its a crazy combination of manipulation by media, commercialism, and corruption. We dont have cricket lovers we have cricket jingoists. Especially the trend is very scary. I have seen india play at the stadium in 80's Vs England at Pune.90's vs WI at eden gardens and here in 2011 at VCA Jamtha vs South africa. This was my first experience watching sachin century. That will be the most treasured memory of lifetime.
coming back to point, in 80s the crowd supported India but idea was to watch good cricket. In 90s it changed where crowd only wanted india to win. Now it doesnt matter, fans are taken for granted. Its all about TV audience. In fact Nagpur crowd was sporting to applaud great shots from south african batsmen. Reason i say fans are taken granted for is that howsoever you treat them, you will get full house.
Start with tickets, they had to suffer lathis. Those with connection (including myself) got it without pain. Its like Indian culture of nepotism. They said tickets were online but for those with foresight in 2010 , no one got hold of them. System crashed.
Then comes process of fan comfort during the matches. I know VCA is one of the best stadiums where seats are numbered and clean. You have cafeterias (though very inadequate for the crowd). Ground is a great sight. But the main problem is access. This stadium is 20km outside nagpur with single connecting raod. There was a whole traffic jam. The road is big. But anyone with common sense would have opened three lanes for vehicles towards stadium and one for reverse. But no such flexibilty was shown by police. some people started at 11 and just got in right time. many lost first 5-6 overs. Security was vague inspite of terror warning. They were just checking tickets and frisking was very superficial. Anything would have happened but thankfully or luckly it went well. Thats the state of our preparedness against terror. Rambharose; ie riding on good luck....
Water was served in polythene bags which was a big problem to open and drink without getting wet or spilling it. so by the end of match there was lake of spilled water over stairs and area. toilets were very reasonably big and clean.
Mind it this is best stadium in India. I cannot imagine how it is at some non descript venues...
To see whole one day match is energy sapping for spectators. Add to that constant dancing , music and antics to get camera attention. I dont know how foolish you would look when you see your own antics later. The urge to get seen on camera was spolier as everyone else who did not stand up had to lose out on action or had to stand. Thankfully score board was good and so was action replays of balls.
Going back again took us three hrs. So add six hrs to 9 hrs of match time. Real tough ask. But indian fans dont mind hardships.
Coming to on field, its an experience watching Sachin field. Surprised. A great learning curve watching him field. That was the most memorable part of the experience.
Lets start with indian batting. Sachin while batting is as cool as anyone can. He plays with bowlers mind. when to attack, when to defend. he is smart. Ofcourse his talent to score and technique is beyond comparison. But one can predict when and which ball he attacks based on match situation. He advised gambhir many times to either stand outside crease to dale steyn or go one step back for morkel who is high on bounce. Sehwag is also another cool chap. He was troubled initially by steyn. Thses guys bowl fast. The speed and carry of ball was visible from my position just behind square umpire. But sehwag attacked to get out of that tight corner. Only sehwag and sachin can attack such quality bowling.Gambhir took his time to settle but scored when he got set. I justify Dhonis decision to take powerplay because both sachin and gambhir had timed two offside boundaries of steyn very well in 38th over. so they felt they are in. But all batsmen including sachin went for lofted shots where they got wrong. smith was clever in making all players stand on edge. crowd was stunned. some even started cursing them. when indian innings ended, we knew we were 20 runs short and that was fatal in the end
Bowling initially has held smith, amla bogged. Though it was easier batting conditions in evening thanks to dew as ball was coming more upto the bat. Our bowling rose to occassion and ensure that we lost with 2 balls to spare. the kind of score we had would have been otherwise surpassed with 3-4 overs to spare with say 4-5 wickets in hand for a team like SA. our fielders though were sluggish when singles were converted to twos. Gambhir and yuvraj dropping sitters. Thats what is said it was learning curve watching sachin field. You know then what makes sachin as sachin he is why others are just termed others.He is fully committed. Others lose focus when action doesnt not revolve around them. But sachins body language is different. No south african batsman thought about second run when he hit towards sachin in deep. He took a catch, he saved few boundaries. i could not see same body language inside any player except raina or kohli to some extent. But age on their side, what about the most senior player at the age of 38.
The fact that i was there to witness sachin's 99th international century will remain a high point of my life. The crowd reaction was crazy. It went beserk as he reached 96 and amount of noise when he made 100 was deafening. I have those moments captured.
Add to that sehwags batting, gambhirs shots,nail biting finish, crowds roar after every african wicket, quality of steyn morkels bowling all was a great experience.
The very fact that you are part of something millions would be watching all over world made me feel different when i was a dot in 50000 strong crowd. I dont know how players feel when they are center of attraction with closeup cameras. what is it being sachin when you carry billions hope? spare a thought...
That was 10 45 pm at Nagpur outside VCA Jamtha stadium just after Robin Peterson hit Nehra the winning boundary. some clever people rsuhed out immediately after peterson hit second ball for six over long on : farthest point where we were sitting.
Just imagine reverse scenario if Peterson would have giving catch to bhajji at long on or nehra would have been able to produce dot ball.... The same crowd would have seen dancing out of stadium amidst drums bugles, flags, shouts for India-India. Many would have waited till Man of the match interview to end.... And i would have ended my dream come true in most ideal pattern. But if wishes were horses. There was sad ending , final twist in tale. But what i witnessed was amazing.
Cricket is just another sport. It is not here in India. Its mass opium. Its a crazy combination of manipulation by media, commercialism, and corruption. We dont have cricket lovers we have cricket jingoists. Especially the trend is very scary. I have seen india play at the stadium in 80's Vs England at Pune.90's vs WI at eden gardens and here in 2011 at VCA Jamtha vs South africa. This was my first experience watching sachin century. That will be the most treasured memory of lifetime.
coming back to point, in 80s the crowd supported India but idea was to watch good cricket. In 90s it changed where crowd only wanted india to win. Now it doesnt matter, fans are taken for granted. Its all about TV audience. In fact Nagpur crowd was sporting to applaud great shots from south african batsmen. Reason i say fans are taken granted for is that howsoever you treat them, you will get full house.
Start with tickets, they had to suffer lathis. Those with connection (including myself) got it without pain. Its like Indian culture of nepotism. They said tickets were online but for those with foresight in 2010 , no one got hold of them. System crashed.
Then comes process of fan comfort during the matches. I know VCA is one of the best stadiums where seats are numbered and clean. You have cafeterias (though very inadequate for the crowd). Ground is a great sight. But the main problem is access. This stadium is 20km outside nagpur with single connecting raod. There was a whole traffic jam. The road is big. But anyone with common sense would have opened three lanes for vehicles towards stadium and one for reverse. But no such flexibilty was shown by police. some people started at 11 and just got in right time. many lost first 5-6 overs. Security was vague inspite of terror warning. They were just checking tickets and frisking was very superficial. Anything would have happened but thankfully or luckly it went well. Thats the state of our preparedness against terror. Rambharose; ie riding on good luck....
Water was served in polythene bags which was a big problem to open and drink without getting wet or spilling it. so by the end of match there was lake of spilled water over stairs and area. toilets were very reasonably big and clean.
Mind it this is best stadium in India. I cannot imagine how it is at some non descript venues...
To see whole one day match is energy sapping for spectators. Add to that constant dancing , music and antics to get camera attention. I dont know how foolish you would look when you see your own antics later. The urge to get seen on camera was spolier as everyone else who did not stand up had to lose out on action or had to stand. Thankfully score board was good and so was action replays of balls.
Going back again took us three hrs. So add six hrs to 9 hrs of match time. Real tough ask. But indian fans dont mind hardships.
Coming to on field, its an experience watching Sachin field. Surprised. A great learning curve watching him field. That was the most memorable part of the experience.
Lets start with indian batting. Sachin while batting is as cool as anyone can. He plays with bowlers mind. when to attack, when to defend. he is smart. Ofcourse his talent to score and technique is beyond comparison. But one can predict when and which ball he attacks based on match situation. He advised gambhir many times to either stand outside crease to dale steyn or go one step back for morkel who is high on bounce. Sehwag is also another cool chap. He was troubled initially by steyn. Thses guys bowl fast. The speed and carry of ball was visible from my position just behind square umpire. But sehwag attacked to get out of that tight corner. Only sehwag and sachin can attack such quality bowling.Gambhir took his time to settle but scored when he got set. I justify Dhonis decision to take powerplay because both sachin and gambhir had timed two offside boundaries of steyn very well in 38th over. so they felt they are in. But all batsmen including sachin went for lofted shots where they got wrong. smith was clever in making all players stand on edge. crowd was stunned. some even started cursing them. when indian innings ended, we knew we were 20 runs short and that was fatal in the end
Bowling initially has held smith, amla bogged. Though it was easier batting conditions in evening thanks to dew as ball was coming more upto the bat. Our bowling rose to occassion and ensure that we lost with 2 balls to spare. the kind of score we had would have been otherwise surpassed with 3-4 overs to spare with say 4-5 wickets in hand for a team like SA. our fielders though were sluggish when singles were converted to twos. Gambhir and yuvraj dropping sitters. Thats what is said it was learning curve watching sachin field. You know then what makes sachin as sachin he is why others are just termed others.He is fully committed. Others lose focus when action doesnt not revolve around them. But sachins body language is different. No south african batsman thought about second run when he hit towards sachin in deep. He took a catch, he saved few boundaries. i could not see same body language inside any player except raina or kohli to some extent. But age on their side, what about the most senior player at the age of 38.
The fact that i was there to witness sachin's 99th international century will remain a high point of my life. The crowd reaction was crazy. It went beserk as he reached 96 and amount of noise when he made 100 was deafening. I have those moments captured.
Add to that sehwags batting, gambhirs shots,nail biting finish, crowds roar after every african wicket, quality of steyn morkels bowling all was a great experience.
The very fact that you are part of something millions would be watching all over world made me feel different when i was a dot in 50000 strong crowd. I dont know how players feel when they are center of attraction with closeup cameras. what is it being sachin when you carry billions hope? spare a thought...
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
First impression
All teams except SA and Ireland have played two matches. Weekend saw two interesting matches: SL Vs Pak and India Vs Eng. Rest all matches have been onesided except maybe Eng Vs Netherlands. Eng, India,Pak and SL have advantage of coming across close situations which might be helpful in knock out stage.
If you ask me to take my neck out and predict a winner: South Africa. Reason variety of their bowling attack and experience batting. Only weakness seems to be long tail and lack of allrounders. we in past have seen great SA allrounders like Boucher, Pollock, klusener. Now only kallis is left but with injuries bowling slow. Also their usual bugbear of choking can go against them. But they have strong potential to beat everyone.
Australia is second favorite with good bowling lineup and allround abilities of watson. Batting looks out of form but with players like Ponting, Clarke you cannot rule them getting back to form.
Pakistan looks next solid team with dangerous players like afridi, razzak , akmal giving great allround depth to batting. Misbah, Umar, Younis form sound middle order. Openers seem inexprienced but can give fast starts. Bowling is good as well.
India will be lucky to grab fourth slot in Semis unless their bowling and fieldling improves. Batting has clicked but bowling unit is below par except zaheers second spell against england. So unless bhajji, or someone else picks up we might see teams scoring heavily and batting under pressure while chasing or just like what we saw at banglore. England lost their nerve so we could save a point.
Srilanka's spin looks ordinary. Malinga fitness will be crucial. Batting also had chinks. But since they will be playing in their country they can easily reach semis if malinga is fit
England had advantage of playing hard cricket so their only road ahead is to improve. Their bowling is underconfident. Batting looks good. But mentally seem brittle. so you might not bet them going past QF.
New Zealand will reach QF but no more. Nothing extaordinary from team yet.
WI have lost Bravo and will find tough to go to next stage by knocking over bangladesh despite great perfomance against netherlands. If gayle is found early by bangladesh, then we can see some upset at Dhaka. But mostly will be last QF team.
Bangladesh can cause upset against WI if lucky to get gayle early. Batted not so except Tamim . Bowling has not clicked as well but have crowd support.
Zimbabve is on revival and will definitely give some established teams some scare. But they will be better off than most of minnows
Ireland and Netherlands have european ethics and built. But they lack confidence and experience. They do have one or two good players but will be force by 2019 WC.
Kenya after so many years of World cup exp flatter to deceive with same set of old players. Their cricket needs revamp
Canada should have been replaced by Afganistan to make interesting viewing.
If you ask me to take my neck out and predict a winner: South Africa. Reason variety of their bowling attack and experience batting. Only weakness seems to be long tail and lack of allrounders. we in past have seen great SA allrounders like Boucher, Pollock, klusener. Now only kallis is left but with injuries bowling slow. Also their usual bugbear of choking can go against them. But they have strong potential to beat everyone.
Australia is second favorite with good bowling lineup and allround abilities of watson. Batting looks out of form but with players like Ponting, Clarke you cannot rule them getting back to form.
Pakistan looks next solid team with dangerous players like afridi, razzak , akmal giving great allround depth to batting. Misbah, Umar, Younis form sound middle order. Openers seem inexprienced but can give fast starts. Bowling is good as well.
India will be lucky to grab fourth slot in Semis unless their bowling and fieldling improves. Batting has clicked but bowling unit is below par except zaheers second spell against england. So unless bhajji, or someone else picks up we might see teams scoring heavily and batting under pressure while chasing or just like what we saw at banglore. England lost their nerve so we could save a point.
Srilanka's spin looks ordinary. Malinga fitness will be crucial. Batting also had chinks. But since they will be playing in their country they can easily reach semis if malinga is fit
England had advantage of playing hard cricket so their only road ahead is to improve. Their bowling is underconfident. Batting looks good. But mentally seem brittle. so you might not bet them going past QF.
New Zealand will reach QF but no more. Nothing extaordinary from team yet.
WI have lost Bravo and will find tough to go to next stage by knocking over bangladesh despite great perfomance against netherlands. If gayle is found early by bangladesh, then we can see some upset at Dhaka. But mostly will be last QF team.
Bangladesh can cause upset against WI if lucky to get gayle early. Batted not so except Tamim . Bowling has not clicked as well but have crowd support.
Zimbabve is on revival and will definitely give some established teams some scare. But they will be better off than most of minnows
Ireland and Netherlands have european ethics and built. But they lack confidence and experience. They do have one or two good players but will be force by 2019 WC.
Kenya after so many years of World cup exp flatter to deceive with same set of old players. Their cricket needs revamp
Canada should have been replaced by Afganistan to make interesting viewing.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Amidst Unspoilt Wilderness of Vasota
I woke up in morning, I felt city buzz. While going to office i faced Traffic, pollution. I saw cement jungle everywhere. Though i have a lot of structured sorroundings near home but situation in major cities like Pune is alarming. Hill slopes are destroyed, tree are cut, rivers are blocked and what we face is urban nightmare. Add to that carbon pollution, noise pollution, traffic chaos, inflation, corruption. Its unbearable. As the people in Arab world are doing it, it was time for me to revolt. I revolted and headed towards Vasota, a fort amidst koyana backwaters. and i was successful in my revolution. I am now refreshed and ready to survive in good old bad citiscape...
Everyyear i make a resolution. There were few things as a collegian or working single professional, i missed. Maybe due to sudden migration to kgp or for jobs. later due to business. Harischandra and Vasota are two 'dhams' for trekking enthusiasts. Add to that list; ratangad, rajgad, bhairi, rajmachi... many such dhams. I had done rajgad, torna, torana rajgad, shivthar rajgad, khandas-bhimashankar, lonavala bhimashankar, dukes nose, madhu-makrandagad, rayreshwar, umpteen times sinhagad, but somehow missed these popular slots. three years back i went to harischandra (blogged then here). I was impressed by grandeur of Kokankada, terrain, sorrounding peaks. It was amazing.
Last two years went dry ( i mean not that dry due to my focus on partying and socializing. also work pressure took toll) But year 2011, is year of health. Going back to where i was. Thus year started with two climbs to sinhgad. Solaris my health club has started Transform challengs. so lot of activities.
Had heard that Vasota fort will no more be accessable for trekkers after formation of Koyana Tiger reserve. So felt feb11 was my last chance. I searched web and found giridarshan having trek on 13th Feb. Called few friends, one of them joined. He being lecturer at sassoon, roped in his four students. Prepared on home side. Wife and daughter felt sigh of relief as i was supposed to be out of equation for more than 24hrs. (just kidding..) Got a sack, sleeping bag and headed towards meeting point which was in city at 10 30 PM. There were many takers for this trek maybe due to the tiger reserve threat. We had two bus loaded of trekkers heading towards vasota. After innumerable delays and pickups on route we finally took highway at midnight. Night was cold. I caught up with my school mate and shared memories of school, college etc. Had a great tea break on mahabaleshwar phata and reached satara at 1 am. I dont know for what they halted at satara for more than 30 mins. Finally we took Kaas ghat. Kas plateau in night is another story. In this blog here i had written about trip to Kas. Two buses in total darkness and steep turns can be scary.
Finally we reached Bamnoli at 4 am. Just two hrs to sleep. Found a corner at mandir. spread the sleeping bag. But before crashing, met the most important task during trek: Cleaning bowels. Open air task has to be accomplished in dark. so went near lake alone. It was scary experience. Managed that and slept amidst snoring of atleast 20 odd people and 60 odd trekkers. Cannot run away from crowd here also.
Next morning had a breakfast of pohas and tea. Launch people came in at 9 just like any govt office. Forest permissions are also granted on the spot as against my information that we have to get in prior from Pune. But staying at vasota is not allowed. If found there is penalty. So our fleet of 7 launches with 12 people in each started by 9 30. Expanse of Koyna dam is amazing. Right from Tapola till dam wall is nearly 60-70 km north south. add to that inward stream of lake on both east west side . some of them as long as 5-6 kms. Add to that its standard east west width of atleast 6 -7 kms. Huge water storage. Still Maharashtra suffers from power and water crisis in summer is another story. On west side of dam we have huge jungles and few hamlets cut off from world. Launch is only way to access these villages. Comparing vegetation on east slopes and west slopes indicated human touch of destruction on east side which is accessible. West side is unaccesible due to mountains and sahyadris on west (heavy climb from konkan side amidst treachourous mountains and valleys) and dam water on west. So we cross two valley on lauch and finally saw vasota fort on west. The extension of lake entered almost 2 -3 kms . As we entered the vegetation thickened out sizably and by time we reached Met Indavali, launch station and start point form vasota, it was thick forest which i had never seen maybe expect at Bhimashankar.
So we started trek at 1030. There is forest office and small gate to enter. Once we cross that its jungle all the way. We never saw sunrays till almost we reached top. We say vegetation, shapes, butterflies, birds but did not see any other wild life (fortunately or unfortunately). Saw a cat which people claim to be udmanjar. The gradient is steep but taxng. Lack fo sun makes it easier also cool breeze helps. maybe a km ahead you have a natural water stream which is last water source till you reach top. The water is amazing. The jungle noises soothe you all along. I pitied those who had their earplugs on with some music. Thankfully inspite group being large, chatterati was less. After one and half hrs of forest climb we reached open spot from where we could see how far we had travelled from starting point and could see jungle, dam waters, mountains. The view is amazing. i cannot describe, neither photo will give that feel. Walk amidts forest is an experience and summary of trek. We reached on fort at 12 30. There is nothing atop the fortexcept water tank, and old dilapidated temple and some basement structures. It seems Britishers destroyed the fort when they captured it. while they have preserved silliest of castles in scotland, they have ruined our forts and history. For that i will never pardon them (as if it counts). In fact when it was ruled by marathas, britishers were kept there are prisoners. Imagined being imprisoned on fort thousands of km away from home that too in such landscape. some guts. This fort was captured by shivaji during conquest of Javali from mores. since then till british took over was always with marathas. Thankfully no mughals or shahs.
then we headed towards babu kada which is a great view. It might be second tallest rock formation after kokankada on harsihchandra. On top of it is old vasota which now is very diffficult to reach except when you have a guide. View of kokan on west is amazing.
Giridarshan had provide lunch of chinese mix veg, roti, shrikhand. amazing. Lunches on trek are always great.
Then we saw machi, where we could see nageshware cave. Its 3 km ahead and has old cave and mandir. we started climb down at 3 and reached launch by 4.30. Climb down takes toll on your knees. But same forest experience helps.
We took launch , caught few naps and reached bamnoli by 6. Bus took us to satara where they ahd ordered thalis at rajatadri. Reached pune by midnight
24 hrs of extreme bliss amidst some scenic landscapes and thick forest...
Everyyear i make a resolution. There were few things as a collegian or working single professional, i missed. Maybe due to sudden migration to kgp or for jobs. later due to business. Harischandra and Vasota are two 'dhams' for trekking enthusiasts. Add to that list; ratangad, rajgad, bhairi, rajmachi... many such dhams. I had done rajgad, torna, torana rajgad, shivthar rajgad, khandas-bhimashankar, lonavala bhimashankar, dukes nose, madhu-makrandagad, rayreshwar, umpteen times sinhagad, but somehow missed these popular slots. three years back i went to harischandra (blogged then here). I was impressed by grandeur of Kokankada, terrain, sorrounding peaks. It was amazing.
Last two years went dry ( i mean not that dry due to my focus on partying and socializing. also work pressure took toll) But year 2011, is year of health. Going back to where i was. Thus year started with two climbs to sinhgad. Solaris my health club has started Transform challengs. so lot of activities.
Had heard that Vasota fort will no more be accessable for trekkers after formation of Koyana Tiger reserve. So felt feb11 was my last chance. I searched web and found giridarshan having trek on 13th Feb. Called few friends, one of them joined. He being lecturer at sassoon, roped in his four students. Prepared on home side. Wife and daughter felt sigh of relief as i was supposed to be out of equation for more than 24hrs. (just kidding..) Got a sack, sleeping bag and headed towards meeting point which was in city at 10 30 PM. There were many takers for this trek maybe due to the tiger reserve threat. We had two bus loaded of trekkers heading towards vasota. After innumerable delays and pickups on route we finally took highway at midnight. Night was cold. I caught up with my school mate and shared memories of school, college etc. Had a great tea break on mahabaleshwar phata and reached satara at 1 am. I dont know for what they halted at satara for more than 30 mins. Finally we took Kaas ghat. Kas plateau in night is another story. In this blog here i had written about trip to Kas. Two buses in total darkness and steep turns can be scary.
Finally we reached Bamnoli at 4 am. Just two hrs to sleep. Found a corner at mandir. spread the sleeping bag. But before crashing, met the most important task during trek: Cleaning bowels. Open air task has to be accomplished in dark. so went near lake alone. It was scary experience. Managed that and slept amidst snoring of atleast 20 odd people and 60 odd trekkers. Cannot run away from crowd here also.
Next morning had a breakfast of pohas and tea. Launch people came in at 9 just like any govt office. Forest permissions are also granted on the spot as against my information that we have to get in prior from Pune. But staying at vasota is not allowed. If found there is penalty. So our fleet of 7 launches with 12 people in each started by 9 30. Expanse of Koyna dam is amazing. Right from Tapola till dam wall is nearly 60-70 km north south. add to that inward stream of lake on both east west side . some of them as long as 5-6 kms. Add to that its standard east west width of atleast 6 -7 kms. Huge water storage. Still Maharashtra suffers from power and water crisis in summer is another story. On west side of dam we have huge jungles and few hamlets cut off from world. Launch is only way to access these villages. Comparing vegetation on east slopes and west slopes indicated human touch of destruction on east side which is accessible. West side is unaccesible due to mountains and sahyadris on west (heavy climb from konkan side amidst treachourous mountains and valleys) and dam water on west. So we cross two valley on lauch and finally saw vasota fort on west. The extension of lake entered almost 2 -3 kms . As we entered the vegetation thickened out sizably and by time we reached Met Indavali, launch station and start point form vasota, it was thick forest which i had never seen maybe expect at Bhimashankar.
So we started trek at 1030. There is forest office and small gate to enter. Once we cross that its jungle all the way. We never saw sunrays till almost we reached top. We say vegetation, shapes, butterflies, birds but did not see any other wild life (fortunately or unfortunately). Saw a cat which people claim to be udmanjar. The gradient is steep but taxng. Lack fo sun makes it easier also cool breeze helps. maybe a km ahead you have a natural water stream which is last water source till you reach top. The water is amazing. The jungle noises soothe you all along. I pitied those who had their earplugs on with some music. Thankfully inspite group being large, chatterati was less. After one and half hrs of forest climb we reached open spot from where we could see how far we had travelled from starting point and could see jungle, dam waters, mountains. The view is amazing. i cannot describe, neither photo will give that feel. Walk amidts forest is an experience and summary of trek. We reached on fort at 12 30. There is nothing atop the fortexcept water tank, and old dilapidated temple and some basement structures. It seems Britishers destroyed the fort when they captured it. while they have preserved silliest of castles in scotland, they have ruined our forts and history. For that i will never pardon them (as if it counts). In fact when it was ruled by marathas, britishers were kept there are prisoners. Imagined being imprisoned on fort thousands of km away from home that too in such landscape. some guts. This fort was captured by shivaji during conquest of Javali from mores. since then till british took over was always with marathas. Thankfully no mughals or shahs.
then we headed towards babu kada which is a great view. It might be second tallest rock formation after kokankada on harsihchandra. On top of it is old vasota which now is very diffficult to reach except when you have a guide. View of kokan on west is amazing.
Giridarshan had provide lunch of chinese mix veg, roti, shrikhand. amazing. Lunches on trek are always great.
Then we saw machi, where we could see nageshware cave. Its 3 km ahead and has old cave and mandir. we started climb down at 3 and reached launch by 4.30. Climb down takes toll on your knees. But same forest experience helps.
We took launch , caught few naps and reached bamnoli by 6. Bus took us to satara where they ahd ordered thalis at rajatadri. Reached pune by midnight
24 hrs of extreme bliss amidst some scenic landscapes and thick forest...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
People on Streets
I was closely following Mass uprisings in Arab world. We Indians hardly know about lives of people in Tunisia or Yemen or egypt (leave aside few songs shot near pyramids). What resulted in such an extreme step taken. How was is made possible for people to communicate and organize protest. Who led the people? Was there any financing involved to sponsor this? Role of web2.0 is also matter for research.
Very intriguing indeed. But thats beyond the point.
Will there be such situation in India? Can we imagine people coming on streets and protesting like Arab world? Though one can argue that such situation happens when people's basic human rights are abused by dictators or financial situation leaves no hope situation for common man. On both count India seems to be doing ok. We have a so call democracy atleast people are 'made' belived to be the one in control through means of well organized polls. Human rights of individuals are atleast portrayed to be respected through sound legal system in place. Financially, apart from very high inflation, indian economy is doing good. Inflation and corruption though can spark a discontent but as in past we have seen govts toppled democratically (remember delhi electons won on onion prices). main reason is that inflation is steady and gradual process. Due to market econmony demaind supply mechanism do balance out.On corruption, we indians seem to take it in stride to be part and parcel of life. Its our social psyche to assume things to work that way. we have also seen govt toppled (eg bofors) but hardly any cause for public outcry. Its more a media phenomenon now a days.
But there are primarily two things that can topple the cart. One is lack of indian will to fight terror, and second is so called India-Bharat divide.
As we had seen in past, post 26/11 we had people marching streets of Mumbai saying enough is enough. There were series of blasts in 08 which led to 26/11. People were threatened that if they leave out of houses in morning, they were not guaranteed if they would return safe. (remember a dialogue from wednesday movie?) If Indian govt in future faces such challenge then people will again take up to streets. Govt seems to be in control or we are plainly lucky to have escaped with only two blasts (varanasi and pune) after 26/11. It must be latter as nothing has changed in system . Though we see police alerts or some modernization of tools.
The second is India Bharat Divide: We have already seen this struggle resulting in thefts, kidnapping, dacoity, rapes. The crass consumerism in cities has created craving amongst have nots so they try to use these ways to get there fast. We have seen unabted migration from villages to cities. The governance does not reach remote villages thus leading to new rulers like Naxalites to take over the power vacuum. In cities, welfare policies are as well nonexistant and add to that perpetual greed of land mafia on resources. It will be hard one day to manage law and order in cities.
Having said that will people in india take to streets. Political parties have already shown that they can halt india to still using bandhs and violence . But to have 100% success, they need issue which will be acceptable to all. We are so divided that there cannot be a single cause that will bind us. Those who rule the IT and media tools are not interested in politics so social networking revolution does not mean in india. Only interest garnering topics will be out of bollywood or cricket.
so rulers in india, dont worry about such uprisings, we indians are very resilient.
Carry on with your plundering...
Very intriguing indeed. But thats beyond the point.
Will there be such situation in India? Can we imagine people coming on streets and protesting like Arab world? Though one can argue that such situation happens when people's basic human rights are abused by dictators or financial situation leaves no hope situation for common man. On both count India seems to be doing ok. We have a so call democracy atleast people are 'made' belived to be the one in control through means of well organized polls. Human rights of individuals are atleast portrayed to be respected through sound legal system in place. Financially, apart from very high inflation, indian economy is doing good. Inflation and corruption though can spark a discontent but as in past we have seen govts toppled democratically (remember delhi electons won on onion prices). main reason is that inflation is steady and gradual process. Due to market econmony demaind supply mechanism do balance out.On corruption, we indians seem to take it in stride to be part and parcel of life. Its our social psyche to assume things to work that way. we have also seen govt toppled (eg bofors) but hardly any cause for public outcry. Its more a media phenomenon now a days.
But there are primarily two things that can topple the cart. One is lack of indian will to fight terror, and second is so called India-Bharat divide.
As we had seen in past, post 26/11 we had people marching streets of Mumbai saying enough is enough. There were series of blasts in 08 which led to 26/11. People were threatened that if they leave out of houses in morning, they were not guaranteed if they would return safe. (remember a dialogue from wednesday movie?) If Indian govt in future faces such challenge then people will again take up to streets. Govt seems to be in control or we are plainly lucky to have escaped with only two blasts (varanasi and pune) after 26/11. It must be latter as nothing has changed in system . Though we see police alerts or some modernization of tools.
The second is India Bharat Divide: We have already seen this struggle resulting in thefts, kidnapping, dacoity, rapes. The crass consumerism in cities has created craving amongst have nots so they try to use these ways to get there fast. We have seen unabted migration from villages to cities. The governance does not reach remote villages thus leading to new rulers like Naxalites to take over the power vacuum. In cities, welfare policies are as well nonexistant and add to that perpetual greed of land mafia on resources. It will be hard one day to manage law and order in cities.
Having said that will people in india take to streets. Political parties have already shown that they can halt india to still using bandhs and violence . But to have 100% success, they need issue which will be acceptable to all. We are so divided that there cannot be a single cause that will bind us. Those who rule the IT and media tools are not interested in politics so social networking revolution does not mean in india. Only interest garnering topics will be out of bollywood or cricket.
so rulers in india, dont worry about such uprisings, we indians are very resilient.
Carry on with your plundering...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Two positives: one negative
They say 24th Jan (correct me but i think its some date in third week of Jan) is the saddest day for all. They have some quotient that holiday season is over, year looms ahead, new years resolutions end here for many and so on... I think some points are true but i think its just useless study. Here i am am finding time to muse on this day. On work side things are hectic and looking up as here in IT things seems to have gathered momentum since third quarter of 2010.
Start to 2011 can be summed as Two positives and one negative for me.
On personal side, physicall fitness and detox has worked. This resolution is still intact. tough as they say shwaznegger was not built in a day. its ongoing process. I had opportunity to climb sinhagad, ARAI,parvati twice. also had chance to enter swimming pool on the coldest day in this winter (5.3 deg c) for acquaerobics session with some lovely ladies. All this thanks to solaris xform challenge.
Second postive is the performance of Indian Team in SA. Though Durban test was won last yr and fightback started at centurian in dec, it was wonderful fight at Capetown between legends like kallis, sachin and good cricket all round. India earned respect through this series. They will not be criticzed anymore for being lucky test team to be No1. No1 ranking is justified with tied series. Though we had golden opportunity on fourth day at Capetown. we let them through the jail... ODI series also was close inspite of absence of sachin, sehwag, gambhir . I really though we would struggle but bowlers did good job along with few batters like pathan, Kohli. Rest batting collapses but fight shown was great. With us winning T20 and they winning by 3-2 again i feel limited over series was tied. Looking forward to great world cup. But keeping fingers cross as in past we have seen strange things happen.
Last thing which made 24th Jan the saddest day in real sense is demise of panditji. Great singer Pt Bhimsen Joshi. I feel a personal loss. I remember attending his santwani prog with my grand mom when i was 7 yrs old. That voice mesmerised me. That baritone, melody, discipline, style everything. Though i am not classival buff, but his voice (along with pt Jasrajji) i feel some great feeling which i cannot define. The depth of voice, some magic. His film songs, abhangs are the ones i really like. Remember Ramya hi swargahun lanka, majhe maher pandhari, yachi sathi kela attahas, amazing.... feel like this gap can never be filled. People like PL, Panditji, Latadidi, sachin have made our lives rich. We are poorer today....
Start to 2011 can be summed as Two positives and one negative for me.
On personal side, physicall fitness and detox has worked. This resolution is still intact. tough as they say shwaznegger was not built in a day. its ongoing process. I had opportunity to climb sinhagad, ARAI,parvati twice. also had chance to enter swimming pool on the coldest day in this winter (5.3 deg c) for acquaerobics session with some lovely ladies. All this thanks to solaris xform challenge.
Second postive is the performance of Indian Team in SA. Though Durban test was won last yr and fightback started at centurian in dec, it was wonderful fight at Capetown between legends like kallis, sachin and good cricket all round. India earned respect through this series. They will not be criticzed anymore for being lucky test team to be No1. No1 ranking is justified with tied series. Though we had golden opportunity on fourth day at Capetown. we let them through the jail... ODI series also was close inspite of absence of sachin, sehwag, gambhir . I really though we would struggle but bowlers did good job along with few batters like pathan, Kohli. Rest batting collapses but fight shown was great. With us winning T20 and they winning by 3-2 again i feel limited over series was tied. Looking forward to great world cup. But keeping fingers cross as in past we have seen strange things happen.
Last thing which made 24th Jan the saddest day in real sense is demise of panditji. Great singer Pt Bhimsen Joshi. I feel a personal loss. I remember attending his santwani prog with my grand mom when i was 7 yrs old. That voice mesmerised me. That baritone, melody, discipline, style everything. Though i am not classival buff, but his voice (along with pt Jasrajji) i feel some great feeling which i cannot define. The depth of voice, some magic. His film songs, abhangs are the ones i really like. Remember Ramya hi swargahun lanka, majhe maher pandhari, yachi sathi kela attahas, amazing.... feel like this gap can never be filled. People like PL, Panditji, Latadidi, sachin have made our lives rich. We are poorer today....
Monday, January 17, 2011
Time flies
I remember that evening in march 07 when all plans of world cup went awry. India played 2 matches, we had partied on both days with friends around. I remember the agony fans faced and the jokes , postings etc .That time facebook/twitter had not caught on like today, but those savvy people used to forward mails... Now its 2011 . Month to go for another world cup. Four years have zoomed past, sachin has gone from struggling mode to different level another. we have seen worst recession of our professional lives (though end is not yet near esp in US and europe). We have seen UPA1 and UPA2 . Thankfully left parties have been shown door. UPA2 fumbles on all fronts. we have seen terror in 2008 bomb blasts in five cities, 26/11, pune, varanasi. we have seen dirty politics in coloring terror from ruling party. we have seen inflation. we have seen obama, we have seen pak blown away, we have seen MJ's death, we have seen spain winning soccer WC, we have seen some classics at wimbledon, we have seen IPL, we have seen indian team playing very good cricket.. coming back to where i started
anyways lots of things happen in four years. It seems just like yesterday. We are so busy in our lives that days pass, weekends are spent, quarters zoom past with varied numbers, academic years end, you turn older....
so whats new in this, we all know . why lament, live in a moment... i can hear all those cliche advises and know it all cynics who migh scorn at this posting to be non issue. why i thought, i should share this. Its just the fear, at this rate we will soon go past our whole life span. I am sure most of us feel that way but for few really balanced and yogic people.
Other day few friends from school (including some old flames from school days) met, all of us have cross wrong side of 30s with families etc taking priority. someone shared school snaps, 25-30 yrs ago. That seems different age. College days at Kharagpur seem another era,... thats a paradox as we cant track time at all on one hand and feel those early stages to be years gone on other hand.
anyways no one can stop time and there is no point in complaining as my know it all freinds can advise.
But point i am making is the scary feeling of running out of time in hand.... Is this mid life crisis? Time to follow your heart....
anyways lots of things happen in four years. It seems just like yesterday. We are so busy in our lives that days pass, weekends are spent, quarters zoom past with varied numbers, academic years end, you turn older....
so whats new in this, we all know . why lament, live in a moment... i can hear all those cliche advises and know it all cynics who migh scorn at this posting to be non issue. why i thought, i should share this. Its just the fear, at this rate we will soon go past our whole life span. I am sure most of us feel that way but for few really balanced and yogic people.
Other day few friends from school (including some old flames from school days) met, all of us have cross wrong side of 30s with families etc taking priority. someone shared school snaps, 25-30 yrs ago. That seems different age. College days at Kharagpur seem another era,... thats a paradox as we cant track time at all on one hand and feel those early stages to be years gone on other hand.
anyways no one can stop time and there is no point in complaining as my know it all freinds can advise.
But point i am making is the scary feeling of running out of time in hand.... Is this mid life crisis? Time to follow your heart....
Monday, January 10, 2011
Wish list 2011
Welcome 2011. Having seen past 2010 across the memory lane, at a popular sea side beach in Konkan, I had a great start to 2011. Reason for that being Indian teams drawn series in SA. It had never happened be it 1992, 1996, 2001, 2006. It used to be same old story of tendulkar hitting century in losing cause. It happened same at Centurian. But this team is special. It bounces back as they did in Durban and fought in Capetown, But for kallis and some defensive cricket on fourth afternoon , we could have made history.. anyways a great acheivement.
2010 saw corruption taking all limelight. IPL, Adarsh, CWG, telecom. Not say that NDA regimes have been clean, atleast they were functional like we had on roads and infrastructure. UPA1 and UPA2 have failed nation on NREGA, UID whatever projects they undertook. Plus they are corrupt to core. Totally non functional. eg agriculture ministry. Thanks to it, we have unprecedented Inflation esp on food. On oil one can blame global economy, on food we can blame on climate but what about simple steps to avoid supply chain jackups of item cost, hoarding, storage, planning. All that agri ministry is interested in Land around Pune-mumbai, Lavasa and IPL.. Create meaningless controversy on historical greats under name of maratha pride ..
Shivaji was a great king. His biography is lesson to all politicians and so called netas. I see an attempt to make his career drawn on caste lines. We had seen that in past. Great leaders like B R Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule have already been marginalized on caste lines. Every citizen has right to feel proud of these great leaders. But our politicans create heady concoction of caste, religion, vote politics depriving young impressionalbel minds to really understand essence of teachings of these great leaders. what remains is jingoism
Another trend I see is unaccountable power enjoyed by non democratic power house which is first family. They hold no constitutional post apart from being MPs. But they have unlimited power. Its high time they should get on some post in governance.
Our fight against terrorism is also politicized by serious attempts made to color the terrorism on religious lines. This will weaken our fight. Also no concrete steps are taken to follow vigilance, alertness, preparedness to fight terrorism or naxalism.
Only effective people we have is FM, Home minister, Ramesh, Sibal on educational reforms. PM himself should come out of political compulsions and loyalties to revive all above as he did in 1991 with help of PV Narsimharao , a great leader maligned by petty politics. Thats my dream for 2011.
On economy side recession seems over apparrently. Though in US and Europe experts disagree. Here in India, job market has picked, so has sensex (which had greatest loss in a day due to inflation). But let there be no unreal growth story this time. Let us all follow correct valuations , let managers not leverage out of mob mentality. Let job market not result in unrealistic wage demands. We can thus lose cost competitiveness without really going up value chain (many companies claim that but differ when it comes to numbers and scrutiny). Let real estate prices be realistic atleast in urban india. else housing will be unaffordable for many.
Government should play active role in ensuring supply of land in non corrupt manner, with proper planning of environmental and growth issue (plan for next 20 yrs).
Our growth story for last two decaded and so called rise has only few dimension: consumerism from large middle class, innovation in IT/education/manufacturing, good manpower and liberalization in that order. It all was private initiative with out any significant Governance done except for what P V Narsimharao govt did in 1991 and what rajeev gandhi did in 1986, and infrastructure focus in A B Vajpayee govt in 2001. Another problem is non inclusive growth. Anyone can drive 5 kms from city limits to understand stark difference in basic life defining parameters.Time to go to villages for nationally inclined youth. Thats when we can do real nation building.
Tasks are enormous. But let 2011 be a good start towards that. It will define our survival as nation after two decades. Its very important for me as i have my daughter who will live then. Thats how everyone should think. Starting with me doing things very important: save environment, follow rules, vote, and so on....
The change starts with me. Then only we can change system and yes system can be changed. It has to. ....
last point in my wishlist is that India should win world cup 2011 and Pune team shoudl win IPL, and i lose few kgs,.....
2010 saw corruption taking all limelight. IPL, Adarsh, CWG, telecom. Not say that NDA regimes have been clean, atleast they were functional like we had on roads and infrastructure. UPA1 and UPA2 have failed nation on NREGA, UID whatever projects they undertook. Plus they are corrupt to core. Totally non functional. eg agriculture ministry. Thanks to it, we have unprecedented Inflation esp on food. On oil one can blame global economy, on food we can blame on climate but what about simple steps to avoid supply chain jackups of item cost, hoarding, storage, planning. All that agri ministry is interested in Land around Pune-mumbai, Lavasa and IPL.. Create meaningless controversy on historical greats under name of maratha pride ..
Shivaji was a great king. His biography is lesson to all politicians and so called netas. I see an attempt to make his career drawn on caste lines. We had seen that in past. Great leaders like B R Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule have already been marginalized on caste lines. Every citizen has right to feel proud of these great leaders. But our politicans create heady concoction of caste, religion, vote politics depriving young impressionalbel minds to really understand essence of teachings of these great leaders. what remains is jingoism
Another trend I see is unaccountable power enjoyed by non democratic power house which is first family. They hold no constitutional post apart from being MPs. But they have unlimited power. Its high time they should get on some post in governance.
Our fight against terrorism is also politicized by serious attempts made to color the terrorism on religious lines. This will weaken our fight. Also no concrete steps are taken to follow vigilance, alertness, preparedness to fight terrorism or naxalism.
Only effective people we have is FM, Home minister, Ramesh, Sibal on educational reforms. PM himself should come out of political compulsions and loyalties to revive all above as he did in 1991 with help of PV Narsimharao , a great leader maligned by petty politics. Thats my dream for 2011.
On economy side recession seems over apparrently. Though in US and Europe experts disagree. Here in India, job market has picked, so has sensex (which had greatest loss in a day due to inflation). But let there be no unreal growth story this time. Let us all follow correct valuations , let managers not leverage out of mob mentality. Let job market not result in unrealistic wage demands. We can thus lose cost competitiveness without really going up value chain (many companies claim that but differ when it comes to numbers and scrutiny). Let real estate prices be realistic atleast in urban india. else housing will be unaffordable for many.
Government should play active role in ensuring supply of land in non corrupt manner, with proper planning of environmental and growth issue (plan for next 20 yrs).
Our growth story for last two decaded and so called rise has only few dimension: consumerism from large middle class, innovation in IT/education/manufacturing, good manpower and liberalization in that order. It all was private initiative with out any significant Governance done except for what P V Narsimharao govt did in 1991 and what rajeev gandhi did in 1986, and infrastructure focus in A B Vajpayee govt in 2001. Another problem is non inclusive growth. Anyone can drive 5 kms from city limits to understand stark difference in basic life defining parameters.Time to go to villages for nationally inclined youth. Thats when we can do real nation building.
Tasks are enormous. But let 2011 be a good start towards that. It will define our survival as nation after two decades. Its very important for me as i have my daughter who will live then. Thats how everyone should think. Starting with me doing things very important: save environment, follow rules, vote, and so on....
The change starts with me. Then only we can change system and yes system can be changed. It has to. ....
last point in my wishlist is that India should win world cup 2011 and Pune team shoudl win IPL, and i lose few kgs,.....
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