Visapur fort trek !!

          The monsoons are here and as part of the "ritual" that is followed by many nature enthusiasts around Mumbai and Pune every year - hills, mountains and forts are visited in big numbers to soak in the beauty of these places which takes on an entirely different colour (mostly green though :)) during the monsoons. In keeping with our desire to appreciate what nature has to offer, we (group of eight colleagues - Sandeep, Romil, Ranjit, Angad, Sneha, Jay, Udit and myself) decided to trek to Visapur fort on the 02nd July. 
          Located at a distance of around 50 kms from Pune, Visapur fort is a hill fort near Visapur village in Maharashtra. It is a twin fort to Lohagad and was built by Balaji Vishwanath, the first Peshwa of Maratha empire. Much like the other forts in Maharashtra, this one too has an interesting history attached where the British, in their pursuit of Lohgad, conquered Visapur first and used its higher elevation (around 1084m) to attack Lohgad and eventually capture it. 
        Although Lohgad seems like a more popular option if we consider the no. of visitors as the only criteria (and probably also because Lohgad is still in better shape), in my personal view, Visapur is a good trek for people who prefer fewer people and a not so straightforward trail. Of the two ways to reach Visapur that I am aware of, one can either take a train till Malavli station from Pune and reach the base village of Bhaje and begin the trek or another option (the one we took) is to take the old Mumbai-Pune highway and travel by one's own vehicle and reach the base of the fort. In the latter option, although we cut down on quite some distance, it turned out to be trickier due to the weather.
        The time that was decided for all of us to assemble at Pimple Saudagar was 7 30 am. We eventually started at 8 20 am in two cars. We took a detour at Chinchwad for some work but also utilised the small break to dig into lovely fresh pattice from Santosh Bakery brought by Sandeep. We then proceeded on the highway passing by beautiful views along Dehu road and also the famous Mangal Murti Morya Ganpati temple just besides the Somatane toll plaza on NH4. Upon reaching Kamshet, we stopped to confirm further directions (instead of just relying on Gmaps). We were told by a local that we could either continue from Kamshet towards Lonavla further on NH4 or take a left from Kamshet and continue on the Pawananagar-Kamshet road which was a longer route. 
        After another round of pattice, we decided to take the longer route since that way we could also cover Pawana dam en route (around 10 kms from Kamshet). This route is a very scenic route passing by villages (in fact hamlets in some cases), farms, temples etc. Along with all those countryside views in villages like Chikalse, Rautwadi etc. we also noted a few interesting road safety quotes like "Manacha break Uttam break". That reminded me of my trip to Ladakh and the BRO (Border Roads Organisation). We reached the village of Yelse and stopped to buy some stuff. Apart from buying stuff like chocolates and chips, we also ate piping hot bhajji (onion fritters) - key part of any monsoon picnic. Moving ahead from Yelse, we saw school going kids on the way and thanked God for giving us the luxury of holidays on weekends. While we were on our way to Pawana dam and beyond, there was a diversion to the left which one could take to head towards Tikona and Tung forts. As we moved further, we were approaching the Pawana dam, a critical source of water for Pimpri-Chinchwad area. We halted at a spot with a beautiful view of the Pawana lake and the dam. There was a little waterfall alongside that spot where people were busy posing for their next profile picture. Although this route passed by villages, we still found vendors selling vada pav, corn at strategic locations like water streams, lake view etc. And what's more, all of them were doing business !!

Pawna dam

Pawna lake

        We moved further on winding roads on the route to Lohgad. It was raining continuously which added to the fun but one of the cars had a little trouble going uphill. A few of us came out and gave a push (or atleast tried to :D) and then the vehicle was back in action. Although the road is straightforward and takes you to the base of Lohgad easily, due to some confusion caused by misguidance by some people on the way, we lost some time in finding the base for Visapur. Once we found it, we quickly parked our vehicles in a plot which is managed by the locals where they charge 25 bucks per vehicle. With our windcheaters on and with cries of "Visapur .. here we come", we finally began. We continued normal walk for about 20 minutes, all the while admiring the majestic views of the fort, numerous waterfalls falling from a great height, that lone tree standing on the fort etc. We reached a point where a small hut was set up by the locals for selling eatables. From there we took a left (following a sign) continuing our way up, the way up was now a steep one completely covered by trees and laden with stones. After walking for a few more minutes in the dense area, we came to a point where we could admire the beauty of the fort and its surroundings even better. The view down from this point was also outstanding covering the entire village of Malavli, forests and the trail. 
        As we moved ahead, there was a "kahani mei twist" where at one point there was a waterfall which had to be negotiated to progress further on the trail. But due to continuous rains, the waterfall had grown in intensity which made it a little challenging to pass over. Our team halted and we were trying to find alternative ways to go up. We also saw some trekkers who were on their way down stuck at the same spot a little higher up. After waiting for sometime and wondering how to move ahead, one guy from some other group took the lead and got into the fall and with his help, trekkers could make their way down with some support from our end too. They remarked the flow wasn't so strong when they trekked up in the morning. All that action motivated us too to try and proceed further. After a couple of us were comfortable, we managed to get all the others in the team cross over the fall and there was it - the moment of a small victory.

        From there on, we were charged up more and then it was relatively easy. Within a few minutes, we reached the top of the fort. As expected, there were very few fellow trekkers. It was very foggy and that added to the beauty at the top. We could see a cave where some trekkers were engaged in a barbeque session. We roamed around exploring the fort (or the remains I should say) after chanting "Jai Bhavani Jai Shivaji" which is almost like a custom for any fort whereby you remember and pay your respects to Shivaji. It was extremely windy on the top and the rain droplets were hitting us hard. There was a pond too; On many forts there are these ponds which were used to store water by the warriors, not sure about the one here though. After spending some more time and enjoying some more views, we decided to start the descent. We were more confident during the descent but we also had to be careful due to the slippery stones and the mud. On our way down, we stopped for a while at the waterfall (where we got stuck on our way up) and had a good time there (some of us not even wanting to come out of it !!).

At the top

        We reached the base and had gotten seriously hungry by then. We found a little eatery where plate after plate of bhajjis, vada pav, poha flew thick and fast. Thank you dear wife for the lovely sandwiches and theplas as well (Yes, us Gujjus can take the theplas to Everest too !!). After a round of bhutta (roasted corn - another monsoon must do), we were on our way home. We weren't really tired because the trek distance was cut short due to the the car travel but yes, it felt a little cold after soaking in all that rain.
             After relishing the moments of the Visapur trek and calls for going on another one soon, we parted ways and headed for our respective abodes. 


Note - The quality of pictures taken at some places was compromised due to the weather.

Mann ki baat..

Dear Employer,
                        Thank you very much for giving me this feeling of not receiving the paycheck on time.........
for the 4th time in the last fifteen months. Apart from other things, you made me realize that getting your salary on time is not something that one should take for granted at all.
                        I mean seriously you make me feel that I am working in a startup with all its associated uncertainties. Giving the startup fascination in India these days, I would love to "feel" that I am part of one but of course there are better ways of making me feel so. Talking about startups, you guys can give the best of that breed a run for their money when it comes to creativity. The manner in which you come up with different reasons, literally every time there is a salary delay, is nothing but a stroke of genius. Following are some gems - "Administrative delays", "Unavoidable reasons", "Technical issues", "New process being set up". You do not inform us in advance and when we protest, you miss the forest for the bush and ask if it is fine if we are informed in advance. You are audacious enough to suggest me to "postpone" my liabilities. I understood the importance of a contingency plan in life only when you suggested that one should have it in place to tide over emergencies - convenient salary delays being one of them. All for some out-of-the-box thinking !!
                        Being from a risk management world, let me elaborate on the implications of a delay using some relevant terminology and concepts:

Market risk : As an employer, it is a big risk for you if you don't pay us on time.You would become the least preferred employer in the market. Well, as far as the investing community is concerned, Thank God you are not publicly listed.... else even God could'nt have been able to save their portfolios.

Reputational risk : An organisation's reputation is tarnished if it does'nt pay its employees on time.... that too with a consistency (Consistency is the keyword here, you have displayed this quality remarkably well). A big reputational risk, assuming you care a damn about it !!

Credit risk : Employees themselves have a number of payments to make (rent / domestic helpers /EMIs et al). Since you don't pay us on time, we default on downstream payments (thereby lowering our credit ratings). This replicates further downstream. I mean you are giving rise to a desi, scaled down version of the credit crisis :) You would surely want to be placed in the bylanes of history for better reasons, is'nt it ? If there was a market for credit default swaps with the reference entity being myself / my colleagues, I swear I would have bet heavily on it.

Counterparty risk : We fulfill our side of the employment agreeement in terms of providing intellectual capital and delivering on assignments. When we don't receive the emoluments in return from you (i.e the counterparty), it is a huge risk that we face.

Operational risk : As highlighted to you earlier in discussions, employees have to spend productive time in office guessing / speculating on the salary issues. Consequently, the client faces the operational risk of low productivity and hence low output.

                        In the discussions that us employees have, we have also explored the ways in which you could be possibly putting our salary monies to work. You say that there are around 140 contractors working for the client. Assuming an average salary of 10lakhs (and I am being conservative here), you have a total sum of 14 crores at your disposal. Let's say, you invest it in a SBI 7-day fixed deposit which gives you an interest rate of 4.25%. If you keep the funds invested for 4 days (average delay experienced by us over the last 1 year) you could make around 65 thousand. You could also be lending in the informal lending market or better still, you could be day trading and what not !! Phew !! Unable to think of more options...
                       There are a few good things too that have come out of these incidents - the laughs that we have had (and continue to have), creative thinking (during our discussions), this article (and the laughs that it might hopefully generate) etc.
                        I started writing this after the last delay (1st week of Sep). I then left it midway and lost focus. Guess what !! There was another delay (alright... yet another) for Oct as well. It provided me another shot of enthusiasm to finish the piece. This brings me to the end of this write up but the suspense though continues until the next paytime.... Will we get it on time or will we not ?!!
                         
                 












                        

My first poem !!

Tum -- 

Mera pyar ho tum

Har pal yaad aaye wo yaar ho tum 

Meri sabse acchi aadat ho tum 

Rab se ki hui ibadat ho tum 

Mausam ki pehli baarish ho tum 

Uparwale ki haseen saazish ho tum 

Behte jharne ki khalkhal aawaaz ho tum 

Meri zindagi ka sur, sangeet, saaz ho tum 

Din ki pehli dhoop ho tum 

Bina saaj shingar ke hi kitna sundar rang roop ho tum 

Shayar banne pe majboor karde wo mastani shaam ho tum 

Tumhe bananewale ki fursat ka lajawaab anjaam ho tum 

Thandi hawa ki leher ho tum 

Mujh par ki gayi meher ho tum 

Meri zindagi ka har haseen pal ho tum 

kya maine tumhe kabhi kaha, meri dream girl ho tum

Log poochte hai hume aisi kya khaas ho tum 

ab kaise batau unhe kitna khoobsoorat ehsaas ho tum 

Chand lafzo mei qaid karna mushkil hai tumhe 

bas itna hi kehna hai ..mera kal, aaj, kal ho tum 

Women's day

08th March, 2014, Saturday, 5:30 pm      

      We had a small Women’s day celebration event in office yesterday. We honoured each Woman in our team by gifting them a rose and a chocolate. This was then followed by a cake cutting ceremony and light snacks. The event ended on a happy note and all of us got back to work.  While I got busy working on an assignment, I just happened to notice around that a few colleagues left the roses at their respective workplaces. I shared this fact with a senior colleague, upon which she playfully remarked, “See, this is the freedom that Women have...they can’t even take a rose back home”. I thought for a moment before I could react. What was she referring to? I told her that although her statement was simple, it had depth.  It may not have been true in its entirety but may be it did speak of a reality that bites.          

      A Woman is a source of great strength, energy and power. She is akin to that ray of light that permeates the darkest of rooms and enlightens it. She juggles so many roles today being a parent, wife, sister, home maker, working professional, teacher, support source and many more ; meeting so many expectations without compromising on any of them and without expecting too much in return. One need not look beyond one’s family, friendship, office to realise this truth. But despite all the awareness that pervades the social fabric today about Women’s liberation, Women empowerment and the societal importance of Women, can we fully claim that Women are indeed given the respect, trust, freedom, encouragement, love, happiness and opportunities that they so truly deserve? In a predominantly male-centric society like ours, you would come across numerous instances where a Woman is subject to humiliation, insult, distrust, threats, hatred and many other ills just because of her gender.  Amidst all the claims of gender equality, the balance of the broader society is still tilted in favour of men.

     On this occasion of Women’s day, let us all vow to end all that is unfair, unjust, biased and inequitable to Women. Let us all take this opportunity to salute and honour the indomitable spirit, the values, the selflessness, the strength that Women symbolise and stand for. As for all the men concerned, fewer things in life can be manlier to do than making Women feel respected and happier. Wishing you a very Happy Women’s day !!

PS – Please note that the above article is not meant to offend / glorify any particular gender.  I would like to quote Jane Galvin Lewis here - You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman.

My encounter with Japanese food

It was a chilly Saturday evening here in Vilnius. In keeping with my long held desire to have a taste of Japanese cuisine; more specifically, the sushi, I went out to dine at a restaurant called Tokyo China. The territorial, economic and military disputes between PRC and Japan notwithstanding, the sushis and the noodles of the world rubbed shoulders on the restaurant menu.
We took our time going through the entire menu, which was full of bright coloured pictures of a variety of dishes. It was time to order then. Since it was our first time, we werent exactly of what to order. All I knew was that I wanted to eat sushi. For the uninitiated and for others who would want to gain conceptual clarity anyways, the sushi is a Japanese dish made of vinegared rice and combined with vegetables / seafood. There are various permutations and combinations with some of them being with eel, tuna, squids,shrimps,salmon etc. We decided to order the tempura yasai maki sushi. To make it simple, tempura yasai is nothing but deep fried battered vegetables and the maki sushi is a form of sushi in which a cylindrical roll of sushi is cut into pieces. To go with it, we also ordered ramen soup.
The sushi came alongwith the wasabi sauce and grated ginger and carrots. Now, the wasabi is something that is experienced more by your nose than your taste buds. It is a root with an extremely strong flavour that kicks you even with the slightest bit of it. If one asks me, I did not exactly take neither to the almost bland sushi nor to the extremeness of the wasabi , all this while struggling to use the chopsticks in the right manner. The ramen soup was just about good with a slightly smoky flavour and with egg which led to me breaking the "rule" the second time in my life according to my mother, that of staying away from anything that is non vegetarian. The first time was when I gorged upon a mcchicken mistaking it for a mcspicy paneer. Well, I had more than one factor to blame for it; the delivery guy who gave me my takeaway, my hunger (coupled with dumbness..some would say), the darkness inside the autorickshaw which made me blind to the non veg sign on the packet. From the episode, I just discovered how indifferent I really was between eating veg and non veg.
Leaving everything aside, the Jap food evening was an interesting one anyways, the key takeaways for me being the taste of the excellent fresh fruit juice, the visual delight offered by the decor of the restaurant and lastly a drive to learn using chopsticks !!

gLoBaL wArMiNg

“It’s the Final Countdown…” goes the famous song by a Swedish rock band. A similar countdown is running discreetly but dangerously indicating dire consequences for planet Earth if its citizenry continues to ignore the threats that the demon of global warming poses to itself. Global warming, in a nutshell, is the phenomenon of the rise in temperature of the earth’s surface due to the emission of “heat trapping” gases on the earth. According to the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN body, a temperature rise of 0.74 degrees Celsius has occurred in the last century. To add to our woes, a continued increase of 0.2 degree Celsius is projected if emissions continue uninhibited at their current rate.
Although the world has come a long way due to the boon of Industrialization, the development has also had its adverse effects on the environment. The “heat trapping” gases or greenhouse gases, as they are called comprise of water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone and methane. These gases are necessary for survival of living beings but an excess of them has endangered our very existence. In the century and a half of the post –Industrialization era, we have managed to add humungous amounts of greenhouse gases to the environment by way of burning huge quantities of carbon fuels, by large scale deforestation to accommodate the ever increasing population and industries and by various other means. The gases that trap the sun rays on the earth and protect it from extremely low temperatures are themselves causing a rise in temperature levels due to their excess capacity. The main causative agent of global warming is carbon dioxide (CO2) which is present in the fossil fuels. These fossil fuels are burnt extensively for a variety of purposes thereby leading to a disruption in the carbon levels of the atmosphere and unalterable changes in the fabric of global climate. As per statistics, the atmospheric levels of CO2 are rising at an alarming rate of 10 percent every 20 years.
The rise in the atmospheric temperature happens to be just one of the fallouts of global warming. There has been a rise in the water levels in oceans across the globe. Many cities situated across the coastal lines will see themselves being wiped from the
global map if the sea water levels continue their upward trend. The melting glaciers and ice caps make matters worse as the water from these sources meets the oceans and hence add to the water levels there. The migration from coastal areas will exert additional pressure on the infrastructure at other places. Destruction of natural habitat due to global warming can lead to the extinction of a large number of animal and plant species. We are witnessing extreme climate changes in the form of cyclones, floods, famines etc. In the run up to the event in Copenhagen, a policy brief prepared by the Washington based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) carries a warning that such climatic changes can cause a corresponding decline in the agricultural harvest and hence worsen the food security of the world. The developing economies of the world will be the hardest hit. Water scarcity is another issue that has tremendous repercussions for the globe since global warming intensifies the already acute problem of scarce water resources. The UNESCO issued The UN World Water Development Project 2009 and highlighted the link between global warming and water worries. All the issues mentioned can lead to tension and conflicts between people and hence deteriorate the social fabric of countries.
A joint effort has been initiated by the UN under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to bring together leaders from across the globe in order to chalk out appropriate strategies to counter global warming. To further the agenda of action on global warming, the Kyoto Protocol came into realization. This protocol is an agreement which binds all the signatories to certain levels of greenhouse (GHG) emissions and emission reductions. Under the agreement, the signatories can achieve their emission targets using various flexible tools such as Emissions trading, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation. The report by IFPRI states that research must be carried out to improve the understanding of the interaction between climate change and agriculture and find cost effective ways of reducing agriculture’s contribution to GHG emissions. The goal should be to find and fund the most cost effective ways to help the poor adapt to the changes in the agricultural practices. We need to encourage the usage of carbon free fuels and reduce dependence on carbon-rich fuels like oil and gasoline. Investments in alternative fuels and technologies to reduce emissions are the need of the hour. Increasing dependence on wind power and solar energy can not only help us harness the natural sources of energy but also make the world a better place to live in. Incentivizing production of crops that provide bio-fuels can prove to be a very important solution but it should not be done at the cost of food crops. Increasing emphasis on bio-fuels is thought to be one of the reasons for the recent spurt in food prices across the globe. Educational and awareness initiatives at the local and social level can bring about a great deal of change in the attitude of people and help them understand the consequences of global warming. Experts spanning the domains of climate, ecology, technology, business, engineering and economics need to come together and address the issue of global warming that plagues the entire globe.
The challenge of sustainable development stares us in the face and the only way to tackle it is through the unification of the world and by erasing the differences of income, religion and geography. The show of solidarity by the entire world will be the saving grace in the testing times that we find ourselves in.

Meet Your Candidate

AGNI had organised a "Meet Your Candidate" session @ Bandra last Saturday for the Mumbai North Central Constituency with candidates from all the contesting parties agreeing to a dialogue with the citizenry of the constituency.I got an invite to the meet via CRY.CRY was there to present the charter of demands pertaining to child rights to the would-be netas.I reached there much before the stipulated time only to find that I was at the wrong venue.The venue was Apostolic Carmel High School on Hill Road.I hastily reached there and the audience was in abundance with mostly Christians around since they constitute a majority here .This can be attributed to the Portuguese invasion of Bombay which resulted in the Portuguese handing over the territories of Bandra , Wadala , Sion , Parel to the Jesuit priests.As is usual , the meeting started at 6 pm "Indian" Standard Time.But still a couple of candidates out of a total of four were stuck in the chaos of the Mumbai traffic or so we were told.
The dialogue commenced with two candidates namely Mr.Mahesh Jethmalani , lawyer and son of Mr.Ram Jethmalani , from BJP and his Congress counterpart Ms.Priya Dutt from Congress.They gave an introduction of their agenda regarding the upcoming elections.While Priya promised better healthcare , better standard of living to the residents ; Mahesh's pitch revolved around making available the promised funds for making Mumbai an international financial centre , betterment of Dharavi slums , the Metro Rail Project and the cleanup and development of the much talked about Mithi River.There was a three member panel from Agni to ask questions pertaining to various civic issues like the Nagar Raj Bill , the usage of MPLAD funds , Mumbai police reforms , global warming , education , healthcare among others.
For starters , the Nagar Raj Bill aims to accomplish the objectives that the Panchayat Raj system - the third revolution in India after the Green and the White one - set out to achieve ; that of devolution of power and responsibility to the aam aadmi at the grass root level.It aims to divide each municipal ward into several "Areas" , each consisting of about 3000 voters.The voting population of an area would be called an Area Sabha with some powers.So basically , the Area Sabha would be the urban counterpart of the existing concept of a Gram Sabha (remember civics anyone ?).But owing to some ill amendments from the Maharashtra Govt. , the proposed bill stands as it is.Hence , it has turned into political fodder for all parties alike.Both Priya and Mahesh agreed to get the bill passed in its primitive form.Since the other two candidates could not make it to the meet , the battle was between the BJP and the Congress ; probably an indication of things to come in the Parliament with most of the BJP / Cong leaders just brushing aside the concept of the so-called Third Front.Most people think that the Third Front will come third.
The issue of police reforms is in vogue in these elections courtesy the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November.The strength of the Mumbai police force stands at 41,914 out of which 12803 personnel work their asses off securing our esteemed politicians , creme-de-la-creme of the bureaucracy , bollywood personalities and other some other individuals.All this of course from the taxpayer's rupee.So what would our netas do to give the aam aadmi better security ? Priya Dutt said that she herself does not travel with any security and she does not think that politicians and others should use the security at their own cost.Mahesh shared her thoughts but neither of them gave a concrete answer regarding a termination to such issue.
The BJP has found a new agenda this time around in the name of "black money".Mahesh very strongly echoed the party's prime ministerial candidate Mr. L.K.Advani's thought that the trillions of dollars that have been stashed away in Swiss bank accounts need to be brought back and employed towards the betterment of the poor here.While all this is being said , the Congress high command has dubbed the figures produced as "fake" and the entire incident as a "hoax".As a matter of fact even high profile columnists have also dismissed the figures that Mr.Advani has been singing about as incorrect, to say the least.
(Refer : http://www.telegraphindia.com/archives/archive.html(17/04/2009)
May be , the BJP in its bid to find a concrete agenda to contest polls has found it in the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya and the return of "black money".The Hindutva-vani is back and the campaign against swiss bank accounts has for the first time being made into a national agenda.It would be interesting to see how many of the BJP politicos find their bank accounts being probed into and seeing their wares being made public , that is if Mr.Advani manages to pull this thing off.Similar cries have been made in the US of late with the US govt asking UBS to furnish the details of American "secret" accounts.It has been sucessful only to a small extent though since the Swiss banks have the backing of their govt. on this issue of secrecy.If the US with its political and economic clout can manage only a meagre success , the extent of India's pursuit can only be determined in due course of time.
At some point of time in the meeting, while answering a question on the security of minorities , Mahesh made a mention of the communal violence in Orissa and in his true legal fashion tried to clear BJP of the blame.He managed to offend a whole lot of Christians by his remarks.They accused that both Kerala and Orissa - the states where the issues of communal violence between Hindus and Christians and that of religious conversions were prominent - were BJP ruled states.Temperatures rose and the police had to intervene to ward off a certain man who was furious about the conversions issue.
During the course of the meeting, Priya I thought did'nt sound confident on almost all issues.Mahesh , on the other hand , the lawyer that he is , provided a better insight on all issues.But the good old saying that we learnt in school "Actions speak louder than words" rings in our minds and let us see who delivers.As a testimony to all the promises that they made , AGNI made both of them sign a charter of demands that they would/should adhere to after the election episode is done and over with.