adarshraju

Gilli says 'Say No To Plastic' !

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:16:29 GMT

Bangalore Club (BC) has finally placed a complete ban on the use of Plastic Carry Bags within its premises. BC houses about 15 shops like Namdhari, Foodworld etc, in its campus and all of them have been banned from using plastic carry bags. Members are supposed to get their own shoping bags.

Hurrah! Finally our efforts paid off. !

A flashback on how myslef and my close buddy Prashant managed to get this ban implemented at Bangalore Club.:

Gilli Social Ventures is an initiative which myself and Prashant started around the same time last year in an effort to address the growing menace of plastic carry bags.( BTW ,the name 'Gilli' was inspired by a rehabilitated Sea Gull which we successfully released in Mangalore!). We worked tirelessly for more than 3 months, brainstorming for a practical business model for replacing plastic carry bags with cloth bags. By April last year, we had a business proposal, started approaching corporates for support, had identified the dealer to source the cloth at the best cost and to get the bags stitched. We were successful in reducing the cost of a medium sized 'Cora' bag to Rs 10, more than 50% lesser than the what is currently available commercially at present.
Prashant was a member at BC and we targetted them to introduce our Gilli bags. We presented before the committe a proposal to ban the use of Plastic Carry Bags. The Board was pretty positive to the ban, but would take some time before the ruling could be passed.
Meanwhile Prashant got into IIMB for a PhD in Marketting and I flew off to to California on work.
With new responsibilities, Gilli just died down and also the Board members at BC had changed and we had given up the hope of the ban being implemented.
It came as a surprise that the new Board members had taken up the proposal and implemented the Ban in Nov last year.

Now that I'm back home, hopefully Gilli will be back soon..!

Gilli says 'Say No To Plastic. Use your own carry bags..'..

If 2008 was a rollercoaster ride, 2009 looks more promising and challenging in terms of the personal projects that I have envisioned since a couple of years.

ManU 3-0 Chelsea..Muaahhaa

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:33:23 GMT

As Wayne Rooney scores the second goal..
ManU showed the game of the world champions.. Cracker of a game..

Half Dome from Glacier Point

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:54:07 GMT

Yosemite's Half Dome is an iconic emblem of the park and probably one of the most photographed geological objects on the face of the earth. The Glacier Point is one of the best places to get a good view of the Half Dome and the best time is to be there during sunset when the Dome is magically lit up..

This was taken from Tunnel View point, which was on the way to Glacier Point.

We were there at the nick of time to see the Dome being lit up.. Its truly spectacular..

As the sun went down..

The magic is always there..

The mighty block of granite that was formed millions of years ago,

This was no forest fire..

Yosemite, Second visit Part1

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:19:05 GMT

It was not too long after my first trip, I was back at Yoseimte, but this time made sure to spend 2 full days exploring the place. The 9 hr drive from San Diego all alone was rather stressful. I started at 2PM, and got caught up in horrible traffic at LA. I hate drivin in L.A especially during peak hrs.. I was literally driving at 5kms/hr for almost an hr. I was to join my friends directly at Yosemite who were coming down from San Jose. Drivin on the freeways sometimes get extremely boring and there are high chances of falling asleep even while drivin.,! Most part of the journey I was literally dozing off.. Until I entered the national Park at around 9PM. The sky opened up to millions of stars.. It was a pleasant evening and gave me a chance to open up the roof of the convertible I was drivin! The rest of the drive was just amazing.. :)
Caught up with my friends at the Curry Village where we were stayin in a tent that night.. We crashed soon that night..

The next day morn, we decided to do the trek to the Upper Yosemite Falls. It was a nice feeling to be back in the woods and sweating it out.. Half way through the trek, we reached the first vista point, where we got a decent glimpse of the half dome and the yosemite valley.

At this point, some of the tourists who had already made it to the top n were on the way back said, there was no water in the falls and it was not worth hikin all the way to the top considerin that it would take atleast another couple of hrs. So we decided to spend some time at this view point and head back down and explore the rest of the park. On the way back caught this sight of the valley being Sun-bathed..

Back down, we decided to just walk/drive around the park. It was almost the end of the Fall season, but it was nice to see some lovely shades of green, red and brown looked almost golden in the sunlight.

There are streams flowin all over the park. Walkin along this stream and sitting by the rocks and watching the birds fish and fly past you was such an awesome experience.

And we came to this lake which was popularly called the Mirror Lake. Needless to say why it is called so.. There are people who just sit by this lake and paint all day long.. One of the paintings below which was kept to dry.

Easiest way to capture it digitally.!

There are no words to describe the feeling of being here.

It was nearing sunset, and we dint want to miss being at Glacier point to watch the sunset. So reluctantly we decided to move ahead..
More pics from Glacier point and Half Dome in the next post.......

Yosemite, first visit

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:43:29 GMT

Without doubt, Yosemite is the most breathtaking place I have visited so far. I have been to the West Rim of the Grand Canyons, but for some reason I feel that Yosemite is much more powerful.
The first time I visited this paradise was a very short day trip, just to get a feel of the place. The land of highest waterfalls in North America, the breathtaking valleys, the massive blocks of granites, the mysterious looking Half Dome, stunning landscapes and the wilderness is sure to make you wonder if you are in a different world. It was love at first sight.

The first trip, we hiked up to the top of the Vernal Falls. It was summer time and the place was filled with tourists. What really impressed me was that, despite the huge crowd, the place was not very noisy and there was absolutely no litter.

Tourists appreciating the Vernal falls

Good sunlight and water meant a colorful rainbow. If you notice the white spot to the right of the tree on top of the falls, that was our next stop!

On our way to the top of the falls, we came across this cute little California Ground Squirrel.

We spent a good half hr shooting this cutie who was so co-operative and giving us all kind of poses.

This was from the top of the falls. The view was sooo overwhelming, we literally had tears of joy. It was truly out of the world.

It was really tough to leave the place and head back home. I was sure to be back and spend more time exploring....

Back home

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:29:31 GMT

Four long months and finally back home... In terms of work it was an amazing learning experience. Interacting directly with the users face to face, understanding their requirements, translating the requirements into design and implementin them, and involved in the complete life cycle of the project. It was a challenging environment, and am glad I lived through it.
Apart from work, I did manage to do some good amount of travel during wekeends. Visited some of the most breathtaking places on earth, partyed in some of the finest clubs, walked along some of the famous streets of New York, gambled in Vegas, bunjeed from a bridge, drove along some of the most scenic places, and the icing on the cake was the Bob Dylan and Coldplay concert.

Its been like one long dream and back to reality now. Il put up some pics in the following posts.

Madonna! An unforgettable evening

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 07:05:32 GMT

On Nov 4th, the evening when the US Presidential elections results were announced, I happened to be at the Madonna Concert in San Diego.
It was one helluva , crazy rocking night.. Easily the best concert I have ever been to..
Before I speak about the concert, a funny incident happened just before the start.
I had been alone to the concert (Yes, sometimes cant depend on company to attend such once in a lifetime events), and was nearly half an hour earlier before the scheduled start. The venue was a baseball stadium (PETCO Park), and all of us had a designated seat. Being a weekeday, even an hour later, the venue was not even half filled. I was eagerly awaiting, sipping beer hoping some hot single chick would take the seat beside me. Just then, a family of a mother and her two daughters came to my row, scanned the seats and the mother indicated that she would take the seat next to me and the other two next to her. I thought the mom was really orthodox and decided to behave decent and pretend not to look at her pretty daughters! A couple of min later, one of the daughters comes up with this ( Dont know what got into her!) question to me
' Hey, tell me the truth. Is that really your seat? You are sitting next to us cos you think we are pretty and you think we are fun right???'.
I was seriously stunned to say anything for a moment. Why miss out on the opportunity.
'Oh ya. Im here alone and I think I have got the right company. We are here for the same reason and lets have fun!'
The next 2 hours of the concert was just mind blowing. We had so much fun, cheering, waving, shouting, jumping, It was truly a night to remember.
Modanna, the material girl at 50 is still sooper hot and rocking. Her energy levels, the lasers, the special effects were stunning..
It was a hictoric night too, with the election results, and when she announced Obama the winner, on stage, there was a huge roar and big sighs of relief.
At the end of the concert, the mother was like,
'You were like an adopted son tonight. We are glad to have spent the evening together.'
They were so warm and friendly, they were like really good family friends.
The only thing, I hoped she had said I was like her adopted SON IN LAW for that night!
Truly an unforgettable evening.

Keep the River on Your Right

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:02:28 GMT

Movies and traveling have kept me busy from blogging for quite sometime.
Last week watched this documentary called 'Keep the River on Your Right : A modern Cannibal Tale' .
Its based on a memoir by painter/anthropologist Tobias Schneebaum on how he sets off to the Peruvian Amazon, where he is accepted by primitive Indians and ultimately a tribe of cannibals.Its an amazing story of how a New Yorker gets inspired by Machu Pichu, and sets off by foot to explore the place with just a sketchbook and a Cam. He has no guide, no map and only the vaguest of instructions: Keep the RIver on Your Right.'.
Its a remarkable tale of art, love, sex, self-discovery and adventure.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0206187/

Must Watch.

Few other good movies I watched last week:

Turtles Can Fly :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_Can_Fly

Children Of Heaven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Heaven

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Endurance

A new journey

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:05:21 GMT

A weekend, planned for a monsoon trek in Talacauvery, had a completely different destination.
Life was all good, being on beach ( Other term for 'Bench' in Oracle!) for more than a week after a tough project, with lots of travel plans, loads of time to eat dosas at Vidyarthi bhav, pani puris in jayanagar, and catch up with friends :)
On a casual Wednesday afternoon, when I had just finalized the bookings for the trek to Talacauvery, my manager comes up and says I would be flying to California on Fri night for a 6 months stint with EA Sports!!
I just did not know how to react. The flights had to be booked, accomodation had to be reserved, I even did know where I had kept my passport, shopping to had to be done, complete all the offical formalities and all these in less than 2 days..!
I was excited for many reasons. Firstly, this would be my farthest and longest journey away from home.
Secondly, what better client to work for than EA Sports, the worlds leader in the gaming industry.
Also this was an opportunity to explore more places, especially California during the best time of the year.
But then, I was gonna miss my friends and all the weekend monsoon treks and travels and the birding and wildlife, and the NGO's I used to volunteer for and whole lot of other things.
A new journey is soo full of compromises..

Fire in the sky

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:10:53 GMT

On the night of the much awaited karnataka poll results were announced, as BJP prepare to assume power,
a power lightning strikes the House of Power.

Shot this handheld.

Follow your heart or Follow the money

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:19:47 GMT

5 days of boring not-my kind of job in one of the leading IT companies to earn good money to spend over the weekends to pursue my passion and interest, or to give up everything,move away from family and friends for a dream job at one of the top Wilderness lodges in the country to make a living out of my passions.. ??
The former would definitely guarantee a future, handsome money to lead a lavish life, but with the later I am not sure where I would be heading. A risk, to be opportunistic and grab everything that comes my way..
Should I follow my heart or the money..

On Top of the World

Fri, 30 May 2008 18:26:28 GMT

Losing the way through a trek to the highest peak in Coorg, treading the path least traveled, pitching a tent with fears of being blown away by the gusty winds, a camp fire to keep us warm, star studded sky lit brightly by the full moon, waking up to realize that we were infact above the clouds! A truly memorable weekend(May 10-11) at Tadiandamol.

Bandipur, BR Hills

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:38:55 GMT

Last weekend made a trip to Bandipur. Though the purpose of the trip was to spend some time with the kids of a government school inside Bandipur, we managed to drive down to Mudumalai, Masinagudi and BR Hills. The drive was just amazing. Thanks to the rains, the forest wore a lush green cover. Though we dint spot any elephants nor the Gaurs, we were lucky enough to spot 2 malabar giant squirrels find their way into their nests, a stripe necked mongoose and a monitor lizard. This was my second time to BR Hills though the first time was just a mere drive to the JLR Campus in K Gudi and back with avinash_kj and anjali_ar this time we managed to spend more time at BR Hills. Vinay's bday and the bday bums made the trip all the more special :) The Asian Paradise flycatcher rufous male and the Crested Hawk Eagle made my day and the weekend drive was just perfect.
anushsh has more on fun at the school.
Few of the trip photos : http://picasaweb.google.com/adarshraju/BRHills.

Flash Back

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:14:41 GMT

A leopard sighting for nearly 40 min in Bandipur, trekking in the forests of Namdhappa (Arunachal Pradesh) for a week amid breath taking valleys and gorges.. those virgin forests, jaw dropping valleys, grasslands, crystal clear streams , river beds of pebbles of all shapes n sizes, snow capped mountains in the distance..watching a flock of 25 Wreathed Hornbills fly over our heads, tracking the Hollock Gibbons, 3 days in the land of the Rhinos (Kaziranga), a weekend at mangalore to release a rehabilitated Black Headed Sea Gull, flying kites in the beaches of St. Mary's Island, 7 days in Melghat for a tiger prey census, waking up at 3AM everyday, trekking in some of the most highly protected core areas, nearly 15kms daily, getting to hear a tiger hunt its prey about 200 mts away, walking past herds of Gaurs, sightings of the rusty spotted cat, porcupine, palm civets, flying squirrels, four horned antelopes, barking deer and not to forget the LEOPARD :) , in the last 4 months...!!! What more to ask for :)

Finally bought this :)

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:08:54 GMT

Got this on Saturday at the book exhibiton. And already done with BOOK ONE :) You can read this a million times without getting bored :)

Wild Haven - The call of the leopard!

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:43:20 GMT

1AM. The clocks ticking and am still in office stuck with a bug. It was Fri Night (or Sat Morn u can say) and we were supposed to leave to BR Hills at 3AM. I was looking at my watch every few minutes and wondering if I’l be able to fix the bug by atleast 2AM. I still had to pack by bag, pick up Avinash and go to Anjali's (anjali_ar ) house, 10 kms away, by 3AM.

Myslef and Avi (Avinash) had planned earlier that we would be going to BR Hills and Masinagudi over the weekend. Anjali was to bring her car and we would be taking the 6AM safari on Sat at BR Hills.

Luckily my brain worked that night and the bug was fixed by 1.30 AM!! I took the cab, reached home by 2, packed my bag n left for Avi’s house. On the way, I managed to do some bird watching!!!(Yes, at 2.30 AM!!). There was a huge Barn Owl which flew past me on my way!!. I followed it for sometime and tried to spot where it landed. But I had missed it. Never mind, we were going to spot more wildlife over the next 3 days.

By the time we reached Anjali’s house it was 5AM!!!!! Poor Anjali, she had not slept all night. She had not expected us to reach so early (Pun intended!!!!).

We would not be able to reach BR Hills by 6AM. So we decided, we’l pay a short visit there and take an evening Safari at Bandipur. After a quick stop at Café Coffe Day near Maddur for a much-needed coffee break and a bite of a yummy Black Forest, we reached BR Hills by 10. On the way we had spotted quite a few birds, a few rufous backed shrike, spotted owlet, shikra to name a few. But this trip was more of a hunt for the Cats!! Avi was desparate for a sighting on this trip. He had had made several trips to BR Hills and Masinagudi, but never had he sighted a tiger. He was lucky a few months back when he had spotted a leopard cub on the road, but this time he wanted a tiger or a panther sighting. It was a pretty hot and a dull day till now. We had not spotted even a single spotted deer. The only solace for me n Anjali was the abundace of butterflies/ dragonflies and moths which we clicked to glory!! We managed to get a few decent pics.

We also watched Kavitha bathe at a nearby pond. (Well, kavitha is a tamed elephant at BR Hills!!!).

Around 1.30, we decided that we go to Bandipur for the evening Safari.

When we reached Bandipur, our sprirts were dampened to see hundreds of visitors queued for the safari. We had no chance to get a place. We had no other choice, but to try our luck at Mudumalai for a safari.Adding on to the disappointment, the whole trip from Bandipur to Mudumalai seemed rather dull and dry, as we did not spot even a single spotted deer or bird. The scene at Mudumalai was worse than what it was at Bandipur.We decided to head to masinagudi and camp over there. This part of the journey was better having sighted an Indian Roller, and quite a few other birds.

The manger of Wild Haven, gave us a warm welcome. Avi has been a very frequent visitor to this place and infact he considers this place his second home, where he spends more time than at his first!!!!!

We freshened ourselves and then went for a stroll around the resort. With the Nilgiris in the backdrop and a thick jungle surrounding the resort, this place was truly a Wild Haven.

Later in the evening, we set up a bon fire and Avi told us about the memorable experiences he has had at this place. The funny moment of how an elephant had unbelievably managed to climb onto the roof of a house which did not have any stairs (!!! He proved it with photographs!!!!), about the day when he had spotted a panther in a nearby water hole, about a day when his friends had spotted a leopard which was just abt 20 feet from them and all the while he was snoring to glory!!!! But this time, he was desperate to make a sighting. The day till now was rather dull in terms of sightings, but we hoped things get better. After dinner, we decided to drive down the road where he had spotted the leopard cub on his previous visit. This road is known for a lot of Cat sightings. We patrolled for nearly 2 hours, but with no luck. When we returned to the resort, the manager told us that another group of people who had gone out on a similar drive just before we left, had spotted a leopard crossing a road. Oh boy, things could not have gone worse that day. A perfect illustration of Murphy’s Law!! We hit the bed, hoping things get luckier for us!!

Day2

After a disappointing first day, we had to make a choice between a safari at Mudumalai and a trek in the nearby forest. We decided to go for the trek. The trek rather began well J. We spotted a green snake (ID not known yet) within a km of the trek. WOW! That was the first sighting of a snake in the wild for Anjali and me. We did see lot of droppings and pugmarks of wild dogs. The trek was amazing. We got to spot a herd of Gaurs, a huge elephant, sambars, barking deer, spotted deer, and a good number of birds. The trek took us through a stream, through dense vegetation and through hills. Overall an exciting beginning to the day. After breakfast, we went to the Mudumalai forest department. We got to know that there were 2 tiger sightings during the safari that morning and another 2 sightings the previous evening. PHEW!! We rushed back to the resort to finish lunch and not to miss the evening safari. But alas, all that we could spot was an elelphant during the safari. We drove down to bandipur, to try our luck if we can spot anything on the way. We managed to spot, a few tuskers, spotted deer, Gaurs, langurs. At bandipur, we were told that there was a leopard and a pack of 7 wild dogs sighting that evening. GOD, this looked like some conspiracy against us! With less than a day remaining before we head back to the mundane life in the city, we weren’t sure if we would be lucky enough to spot the elusive Cat.

The way back to the resort was rather eventful. We were given a false charge by a huge tusker!! Luckily for us it was a very short charge! Back at the resort, we recalled all that happened that day. An eventful day, I must say.

Over dinner, Avi entertained us with all the funny stories of his cousins! We laughed our hearts out for more than an hour, listening to the crazy imaginations of his cousins, who wanted to build a motorboat which can fetch tennis balls from drainage drains, and many such wild imaginations!Just as were having a good time, all of a sudden, the 3 of us went absolutely silent, looking at each other. We had heard a leopard’s call which appeared so close to us. The call was very distinct. 3 more calls and we were sure there was a leopard in the vicinity. The entire forest was in chilling silence. All we could here was the leopard’s calls. A tamed dog at the resort freaked out and came running towards us. We could sense the panic in its behavior. Our heart beats were racing. We locked the dog in our room and went to the terrace and tried to figure out the direction from which we heard the call. A few more calls, and the next moment we were in the car driving down the road to track the leopard. With me in the back seat, flashing the torch into the forest to look for shining eyes, it was an awesome experience. At every shining eyes, we were excited. We had spotted deer, hares, buffaloes, fire flies, all giving us a stare. A few black napped hares crossing the road did give us some heart stops! We could sense the tension in the air. We drove for more than 2 hours with our eyes and ears wide open like never before. The calls were so close yet so far. After sometime the calls disappeared. Dejected, we went back to the resort. It was around 2AM, when we slept that night.

Day 3.

5AM. I was awakened by Avi looking for a torch. I was too sleepy to realize why he was looking for it. I saw him walk out of the room, with Anjali following him closely. I felt it was a dream and went back to sleep. 10 minutes later, I was awakened again. But this time it was the unmistakable call of the leopard. I was sure this was no dream. Just then I heard Anjali running towards the room, yelling “I saw the leopard!! I saw the leopard!! WoW!!What eyes.. What look! “. I immediately came out of the room and saw Anjali jump around with ecstacy. She asked me to rush to the spot. I couldn’t find Avi anywhere since he had the torch and it was still pitch dark. When I finally found him, he was too stunned to say anything. He was not ready to give me the torch, as the leopard was hardly a few metres away. He felt it was risky to be going back to the spot (Pic in the left) as the leopard was very alert. I literally had to beg and plead him. Finally he gave in and we went to the spot. But I wasn’t lucky. It had slipped back into the forest. We could here its cubs yelping. There were 3 leopards calling. We guessed it was the mother and 2 of its cubs. We sat there for another half an hour shining the torch with no luck. Aaaargh. How I deserved a kick in my A**. I was cursing myself, why the hell I had slept and not followed them. Anyways, it was one helluva experience. We could see all the spotted deer had come into the resort for shelter. The dogs at the resort were all in panic. This was a moment which cannot be put in words. You got to experience to know how it feels.

The sun was finally out, the birds started chirping, the calls had disappeared, the spotted deer went back into the forest and everything was back to normal. We inspected the place where they had seen the leopard. We could see the fresh pug marks. Looked like that of an adult. Contrasting feeling running through me and the other two, we went back to the room to pack our backs and head to Bandipur for a safari. All the way along, Anjali was speaking nothing but about what she had experienced that morning. She said she could feel a shiver run down her spine, when the leopard had looked right into their eyes. She still couldn’t believe. She had kept saying “Oh freak!! Oh Freak!! This is unbelievable” for the entire 5 min she happened to watch the leopard. :0. I had to literally plead to stop her speaking about it!!! I was so pissed with myself. !

We reached Bandipur around 8.15. A great start to the safari. We got to see a pack of 7 wild dogs resting after a hearty meal..! This was the firsting of wild dogs for the 3 of us. We observed it for close to 10 min. What more do you need.! We also got to see an elephant with its calf just a few ft away from us, few Gaurs, barking deer and overall a nice drive through the wild.

It was 10.30 AM when the safari got over and we headed towards Bangalore. On the way, we decided to stop over at Ranganthittu. It had been ages since I had gone there. We spent a good couple of hours. Got to see a variety of birds, the Ibis, the river tern which gave us some interesting poses to click, greater cormorant, pied kf, stone plover, fruit bats, and not to forget the Crocs!

It was 4PM and I had to be in office by 7PM for my night shift!! What a sad place to be after the 3 action packed days !! It was around 6.30 when we finally reached Bangalore.

And by 9, after an office team dinner at Bay Leaf, I was back at office, waiting for bugs and fixing them. Looking at my watch every few minutes wondering when I can get back home and catch some good sleep.!!

WOW! What a weekend it was. As I write about this experience a sense of nostalgia runs through me, wishing I could do this every weekend J

For the list of birds and mammals spotted, read

anjali_ar's blog

Hybernating!!

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 20:17:08 GMT

Yes, I know its been a long time since I blogged. The past one month has been one of the most happening months for me.!! Have so much to blog, but just not able to find time.
Had been for a long ride with a group of friends a couple of weekends back. The entire journey was for about 1000 kms on bikes!!! ( Yes, you read it right. One thousand kilometers!! Over just 3 days). The journey included riding through the some of the breath-taking terrains of the Western Ghats( Bangalore-Shimoga-Agumbe-Hebri), a 12 km rafting at Sita Nadi, a visit to the King Cobra Research Station( Agumbe Rainforest Research Station), riding to Jog Falls which was at its best, riding through rains day and night. Rode an average of 350kms a day!!!
The adventure of 11 guys and 6 bikes wasn't uneventful. More on the Odysses shortly. For now, some of the pics of the trip : http://picasaweb.google.com/adarshraju/TheBikeOdyyseys/photo#5107347506875143458

Am working at Oracle and we have something called Oracle Global Volunters Days(GVD) from Sept 15- 29th. This is an yearly event, held globally, to celebrate the spirit of volunteering at Oracle. I have taken up 2 projects part of this event. One, a clean up drive at Muttatti with a group called Clean and Green.(http://www.cleanngreen.blogspot.com) on the 22nd of Sept. Clean and Green is a very active group of volunteers who want to make Muttatti a plastic free zone. Very impressed by the spirit and the amount of effort put in by the volunteers of C&G. With almost 80 volunteers from Oracle registering for this project, we hope we would be able make a deep impact in this drive against plastic litter and save our environment. Hope the rain Gods keep away on the 22nd and make this project a big success.!!

The second project is for the Bannerghatta Rehabilition Centre(BRC).(http://www.cupabangalore.org/wrrc.htm) on 29th and 30th of this month.
I have been a volunteer at BRC for over a month and Im in love with this place. Everytime I spend sometime here, I feel a sense of satisfaction and joy having worked to help the injured birds and mammals. No words to describe the commitment and the passion of the in-house vet Saleem. He looks like a typical Hyppie!!! He works day and night feeding, rehabilitating every creature thats brought in here. Be it a rescued 12 foot long python, or an injured star tortoise. He gives a new meaning to these creatures. Its real fun working with him. As part of the Oracle GVD, we plan to plant trees, paint the jackals enclosure, build a few ponds for the turtles/tortoises, help build an aviary etc. Glad Oracle is sponsoring the entire event.
BRC requires dedicated volunteers. A visit to this place and im sure you would never want to leave this place!

More on these events shortly..

For now back to my hybernation :)

My first "TREK"!!

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:12:06 GMT

My first “TREK” wasn’t an adventure in the pristine Western Ghats, nor was it a climb to any of the hills. Neither did my “TREK” involve walking long distance. My first “TREK” was just 4kms from home!! Though it took me quite a bit of research and burnt a huge hole in my pockets, I’m in absolute love with my first “TREK”. Well my first “TREK” is nothing more than a sleek and sexy, bicycle!!!

The TREK 3700, the base version of the TREK cycles, the same brand Lance Armstrong uses, has been part of my life since July 19^th, 2007. Consider her as my new girl friend and have enjoyed every minute of RIDING her ;) With an all aluminum body, she is so light that I carry her up and down from my 2^nd floor house every morning with minimum effort!!!

A bloating ponch, a need to exercise regularly and a desire for new adventures were enough reasons for me to buy a bicycle. But what really inspired me into buying one was Lance Armstrong’s book ‘It’s not about the bike: My Journey Back to Life’. A truly inspiring book and must read for everyone. With Nisarg, my close friend, back to Bangalore after his camera trap project at Bandipur, I once for all decided that it was time to own a cycle.

Nisarg and I went to a couple of shops in Jayanagar to check out the best models in town. After a bit of research and suggestions from friends, I had to make a choice between Hero Thunder and firefox Target. Couldn’t really make up my mind cos, though the firefox was way superior compared to the Thunder, it was a bit expensive. While researching further on the net, I just happened to google for ‘Lance Armstrong posters in Bangalore’. The first hit guided me to Rohan Kini’s blog( rohan_kini). From here got to know that he had just started dealing with firefox and TREK cycles under the name BumsOnTheSaddle ( http://bumsonthesaddle.com/ )!!! A strange coincidence, he happens to be my RV CompSci senior!!!! A bit of googling and I get to know he works at ThoughtWorks and got his number from a friend of mine working in the same company. Immediately gave him a call and wanted a suggestion on what cycle to go for. He asks me to visit his shop sometime in the evening so that I could test ride a few cycles before making my final decision. The same evening, Nisarg and I went to his shop, and that was the first time I had a look at the TREK 3700. It was love at first sight. J Metallic grey in color, and bare without a mud-guard, she stood a class apart from the rest of the cycles! A quick test ride and I could easily differentiate it from the rest. The brakes, the gears, the seat, the front suspension, everything was absolutely perfect and unmatched by any other brand. What more, TREK is the same brand that Lance Arsmtrong used. Without any hesitation I decided this was the one for me. Don’t ask me how much I paid for it!!!! Had a tough time answering my friend when they heard the cost..! Im sure it’s worth every single rupee I’v paid!!!

Living in the 2^nd floor, I can never risk parking the cycle inside the gate. So I decided to keep her safe in my room, appreciating her beauty every morning when I wake up!!!

Having ridden about 50 kms since the two weeks I’v bought, neither my bums nor my legs have complained!! The seat and the gears have been very comfortable J Plan to ride atleast 50 kms a week.