Orlando + MountainView

Here are some more pics from the US trip.


Happy to be eaten


















A plane was kept in the lake in such a fashion that it looked like a crash.




















This is life. This is how my refrigerator looked like in the hotel.



















The adventurous ones. Entry to the theme park in Orlando. We had a blast there.



















Scooby-dooby-doo and me.


















At the Universal Studios theme park

Web 2.0 and 'The Big Fight'

My good friend Navin(http://smriti.com) has been constantly telling me and some of our other colleagues about Web 2.0 and how cool some of the technologies really are in the web world today. Slowly but surely some of the folks around are beginning to explore it, including me. For sometime now I have been exploring Facebook and it amazes me to see the number of applications being developed there. And these are developed by people like you and me in our own time.

I remember my professor Gopinath at IISc always used to say that "Whatever you do, you should become famous on the internet". I am sure he was talking more in terms of research papers and presentations in conferences and stuff, but Web 2.0 is brining in another avenue to become famous on the web. The mad scramble to write apps for Facebook is one such case in point.

Then one day Navin said 'Twitter" and I looked at it and thought "Gawd what a silly little thing" and then I came across this (http://wtips.blogspot.com/2007/04/twitter-tools.html). As the Gauls would probably say "These Earthlings are crazy!!". And lo behold I have started to use one such tool (http://rss2twitter.com/). What this will do is as soon as I publish this blog post, the rss feed for this post will be used by rss2twitter to post a small summary to my twitter account which will be also seen on my facebook profile and on my blogspot page (which means on the right hand side of this page) and to all the people who have volunteered to follow my twitter (using IM.,cellphone, email, etc). Now that is "cool". Just look at the dissemination of information and that too so quickly. There could be interesting business models built around it.

And moreover I am simply exploring the tip of the mountain. I have found an easy way to get to all the cool stuff (ping Navin). And moreover I am pulling more people into the web. If Anupam and Shridhar read this they will be vigorously nodding their heads. Kamlesh would be easily sucked into this.

And now for the Big Fight. It is coming and I can see it. My wife has carefully calculated the time I spent on Facebook and she drops in snide remarks about How I used to discourage her from Orkut. So I can see the inevitable. Probably I can avoid it. Time will tell.

Himanshu's visit to Orlando

The tables have turned after almost an year.. Himanshu is in the US and I am here. Its sad that I get back here only when he is not around. I should visit this space more often, and not just to give him reviews on his postings, but also to write something for our Milestones.



Himanshu traveled to the US on 1st of October, 2007 for Symantec's conference "Cutting Edge". The annual conference was held in Orlando, giving him the added advantage of visiting the Universal Studios Theme Park and enjoy the enthralling rides that the theme park had to offer on the first day of his trip. The rest of his visit was busier and revolved around attending conferences and representing SRL-India through his own stall.



Meanwhile, I am trying to make ends meet over here (at offshore) and waiting for him to come back.. :)

Anniversary the 3rd

Here goes another one.. The 3rd anniversary, celebrating our togetherness through love and scorn, through fistfights and kicks, through laughs and cries, through care and compassion, through separation and reunion and but most importantly through caring and understanding.

Amen... and here's to the cake... Hip Hip Hooray.

Pune to Kashid and Murud

A new day and a new trip. Sometimes I wonder if a lifetime would be big enough to do all the things that you want to do and this includes travel. I guess not but I am not giving up and neither is Jyoti. So here we dive into yet another trip on 8th Sept., 2007 to a part of the Konkan coastline which included Kashid and Murud-Janjira.

The trip:
Kashid lies on the Konkan coast and boasts of a fine beach and scenic surroundings. The time to go there is Nov-Dec but then you would find it a little crowdy. The best time would be to go around mid Sept when the whether is good and there is not a big rush of people. There are a lot of staying options around. We chose Kashid beach resort which was OK (both food and lodging).

Kashid Beach Resort


















Sunset at Kashid


















Himanshu, Jyoti and mom at Murud


















... And leave behind prints on the sands of time.




Road trip
From Pune take the Road towards Mulshi and head towards Tamhini and then Kolad. From Kolad head towards Roha which will then lead straight to the coastal highway and you will hit Kashid and then Murud. This one-way distance is around 160kms. The alternate route is to take the expressway uptil Panvel and then turn towards goa on NH17 and Kolad is on the way where you get off the highway.

Pune to Mulshi

Mulshi is the hotspot for picnic goers especially in the monsoons. Around 70 kms from pune this lake offers one of the most scenic views and a soothing weather. If it rains, all the more fun. When we landed there, it was raining cats and dogs. A thick mist engulfed the lake and the surrounding area and near zero visibility. We had to drive very very carefully until we decided to stop and get soaked in the rain.




















Scenic



















It takes two to tango




















Anupam and me



Driving directions: From Pune go towards Chandni chowk and follow the road towards Pirangut. Keep heading straight after that.

Pune to Panshet

Monsoon in Pune is amazing. There are so many places to go out and enjoy the ravenous beauty of nature. Panshet is one such place and the drive to this place is equally enjoyable. Winding ghat roads lead you to this place which is around 60 kms away from Pune. The main attraction of this place is chai+kanda-bhaji at the small shack close to the dam and coupled with an exhilarating boat ride in the reservoir lake.





















The Panshet dam reservoir lake



















The boat ride




















Jyoti goofing around

Pune to Malshej Ghat

Malshej Ghat is one of the must visit places especially in the monsoons. It offers a breathtaking view of the green hilltops and the winding ghat roads add to the magical view. It rains a lot in these ghats and there are a lot of small waterfalls which come down to the road and you can plan to get soaked. Avoid a weekend trip to this place as the place is overcrowded.































































































The drive to Malshej ghat was equally enthralling। We could not help but stop at various places and admire the natural beauty abound.















































































We were literally walking in the clouds once we entered the Malshej Ghat section. The tunnel is the point which tells you that you have reached where you set out for.

Driving directions: From Pune head towards Mumbai on the NH4. After Khadki turn right from Nashik phata into NH50 which goes to Nashik. Go upto Narayangaon and then Alephata and then turn left from Alephata onto NH222 which goes to Kalyan. A brisk 40kms drive from then on would lead you to Malshej ghat. The total one way distance is around 140 kms.

Happy Birthday Jyoti

Jyoti celebrated her Birthday on 17th April. It was a wonderful day. She got gifts, did some shopping and finally a candle-light dinner, with me of course. Yet another milestone and more to come.

... And miles to go before I sleep.

Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar was on the cards again with Jyoti's sister Geeta and her husband Hitesh and their two lovely kids Heena and Mihir visiting us on 16th May, 2007. We had booked our accomodations and we left for Mabi (as Jyoti calls it) on 17th May. A quick 3 hour ride in my trusted Alto and we were knocking on the doors of Grand Resort which was to be our hotel for the coming two days.


Jyoti and Geeta: Sister's act
















Hitesh, Geeta, Heenu and Mihir: All in the family
















Jyoti and Geeta: Appreciating nature
















Himanshu and Jyoti: At Arthur's seat
















(J)Him: All smiles
















Koyna river view from Mahabaleshwar: Breathtaking















Heenu and Mihir: Chillax
















Hotel Grand Resort: In the woods
















Hitesh and Geeta: Shop till you drop















Jyoti on a roll















Driving directions: From Pune head towards Bangalore/Satara via the NH4. Do not use the Katraj ghat section, there is a nice diversion if you are coming from Pashan towards Katraj A state of the art viaduct has been constructed to bypass the Katraj ghat section. Head towards "Surul phata" after crossing the Khambatki ghat section. Take a right from Surul towards Panchgani via Wai and then a further 23 km into Mahabaleshwar. The entire one way is about 130km.

Dr. Amruta Kanjani

Jyoti's best friend Dr. Amruta Kanjani visited us in Pune on 1st April, 2007 and we had a very good time. She is pursuing her studies to be a child specialist and our best wishes are with her.

Simpy's Marriage

Another big day in our lives when Simpy gets married to Gaurav on 3rd Feb, 2007. The ceremony was simple and beautiful and everything went ahead peacefully.

Simpy and Gaurav at the ceremenoy
















Mom and Dad give their blessings
















Jyoti and Himanshu also give their blessings