This time around, I am celebrating Dipawali at Pune . Staying away from home for the last 9 years has made me quite aloof to festivals and they seems to have a negligible importance in my life.

However somewhere down my memory lanes, I still remember Dipawali for quite a few things....

21 days School Holidays: They are right on top of my priority list. I used to literally start counting day’s right from Ganesh Chaturthi and look forwards for these long 3 week holidays. Though the holiday did involve lots of homework but i guess it’s much better than a 1 day Corporate leave. As they say " Those were the fabulous dayz"...

The Demon King-Narkasur: In Goa, Diwali begins with the death of the Demon king called as Narkasur. Huge Effigies of the demon are burnt across the state, close to midnight on a day prior to Diwali. As a kid, I spend a considerable amount of my holidays building the demon king and later as I grew up, I spent the Diwali night goofing around with friends having some nice roadside Chinese dish and a cold mug of Beer...

Meeting All Near and Dear Ones: We spent our Diwali at our ancestral home in a small village called Loutolim in Goa. All the members of my extended family gather even today for a small and an unique ritual in the morning and later on have the Lakshmi Puja in the evening.

Over a period, i have understood that festivals aren’t just important to praying to the lord ( Ask for More..) but also play an important role to bond people together....

Wow...I have written a quite a bit now...And suddenly realized that I am nowhere close to being Aloof to these festivals....

So Happy Dipawali.....Wish u all ....Peace, Warmth and Lots of $$$$......

We Move On.....

Yes.....We have Moved on.... I have finally been a proud owner of Canon EOS 1000D,the entry level SLR camera.

Togather we shall uncover new places and rediscover ourself....

"I invent nothing, I rediscover"

Panchgani

The Word 'Panchgani' takes me back straight to my childhood days. Panchgani as always was wll known for Boarding schools and everytime i made my parents lifes a bit difficult they would sternly remind me that Panchgani wasnt far away...........

Comrades: Adil, Rahul, Chauhan and Yours truly

Distance: Pune-Hinjewadi junction- Pune Bangalore Highway- Take a right before Satara-Panchgani

Distance: 130 kms / 2.5 hrs of min drive

Places To wtach out: Every place out there will give u a sense of calmness and peace

I somehow always have felt connected to this place even before i landed there. Funny, but sometime childhood memories are so deeply imbibed that they are hard to forget.

Thanks Guys for making this trip indeed memorable.....

"Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls"

Trek:Visapur

One fine Sunday Morning we decide to trek. We zoom on an easy target " Lohagad". Plan for the trip. Start trekking up the hill. See an optional road and all observe that the Aam Junta all folking to Lohagad. However as we consider ourselve different so we decide on the difficult, less travelled road.

We Move On, follow the path, Loose direction, Ask for help, Curse ourselve and ....Finally We Triump.

" The trouble with Reason is that it becomes meaningless at the exact point where it refuses to act. "

Trek: Purander

How to travel: Pune- Saswad - Narayanpur
Mode of travel: Murali’s Old car. A 40kms/1 hr drive from Pune should take you to the base of Narayanpur village. One can take a bus to Saswad and then walk for about 4km to touch the fort base. However a car/ bike would be preferred mode of transport.
The Journey Up the fort: The Purander trek is a fabulous journey comprising of 3 different bases, each leaving an unique mark in the mind
· Base 1: Church, Purandeshwar temple, Statue of Murarbaji Deshpande and Tea stall
· Base 2: Fort (Sar Darwaja – still in pretty good condition)
· Base 3: kedareshwar Temple and the amazing altitude view
Difficulty: Medium
Famous For: Purander Treaty, Purandeshwar and Kedareshwar Mandir
Comrades: Udi, Radz and Murs

Some journey’s are difficult are explain. The trek to Purander turned out to be one satisfying one . It somehow brought peace and happiness to me.

“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”

A cord Stuck….But disappeared Soon….

Kyun rakhu main apni kalam mein syahi?
Jab koi “Armaan“ Dil mein machalthe hi nahi“,
Na Jaane Kyun sabhi Shak karthe hain mujhpar,
Jab Koi Sukha Phool meri kitab mein Milta hi Nahi,
Kashish toh bahut thi meri pyar mein,
Magar kya karu koi Pathar Dil Pighaltha hi nahi,
Agar Kudha Mile toh usse Upar Pyar Manguga,
Par Suna hain ki who Marne se pahle Miltha hi nahi

So, Life Still goes on.....

Roadies Series: The Biking Spirit

Sense of Humour....I have lots of it....But.....

A drunken man walks into a biker bar, sits down at the bar and orders a drink. Looking around, he sees three men sitting at a corner table. He gets up, staggers to the table, leans over, looks the biggest, meanest, biker in the face and says: "I went by your grandma's house today and I saw her in the hallway buck ass naked. Man, she is one fine looking woman!"

The biker looks at him and doesn't say a word. His buddies are confused, because he is one fuckin' bad biker and would fight at the drop of a hat.

The drunk leans on the table again and says: "I got it on with your grandma and she is good, the best fuck I ever had!" The biker's buddies are starting to get really mad but the biker still says nothing.

The drunk leans on the table one more time and says, "I'll tell you something else, boy, your grandma liked it and begged for more!"

At this point the biker stands up, takes the drunk by the shoulders looks him square in the eyes and says...................

"Grandpa,....... Go home, you're drunk"

Roadies Series: Vintage Car Rally

Every body appreciates young hot babes in town. But guess nobody appreciates old ladies for being Hot (though I know a few exceptions). I was stupendous by all the pretty old hot babes on display for the Vintage Car Rally competition held at Pune Central.

Blown was I, on these beauties that the shutter never stopped clicking. The colour, the design, the style and the charm, they had it all to mesmerize me. I guess these beauties can give some really hard fights to the current babes. To be they are far superior

P.S: Sorry for the same angle shots. The crowd and the low battery charge didn’t help.

“Women are like cars: we all want a Ferrari, sometimes want a pickup truck, and we somehow end up with a station wagon”

Konkan Surfing: Murud Janjira

Early next day, we left for Murud Janjira. This is a fort situated in the Raighad district of Maharashtra and about 2.5hrs drive from Diveagar. It is famous for being the only fort along India's western coast that remained undefeated despite Maratha, Dutch and English East India Company attacks.

The entire journey right from the boat ride and through the fort is all that a photographer can ask for. The fort allows you to capture the fine architecture details along with the scenic view of the sea. The only constraint being the time factor which is short for appreciating such a beautiful designed fort.

Suggest you to visit: http://www.murudjanjira.com/ for further details

With this as our last stop, we returned back to Pune so that Mr. Adil could catch his train, Mr. Lala could have a last drink and Mr. Udi could catch up with his old pal.

Hoping for more trip Surfing with the same group ...Adios....

Konkan Surfing: Diveagar

Diveagar is a beautiful beach situated on the west coast and about 150km from Pune. As planned, we left Harihareshwar shores at about 3 pm and headed towards Diveagar. The journey took us about two hours with a break at Ganesh temple. One can conclude that the place is predominantly Muslim dominated with the no. of Mosque visible through the journey. At Diveagar we had expected a serene beach, few tourist and plenty of fish. However all the cherished thoughts turned out to be a sheer disaster. We had lotsa trouble finding a suitable place to stay and the price demanded for the same were at sky rocket range. It seems that the entire Maharashtra had planned to celebrate the Republic day at Diveagar. Being a FishOholic, the food turned out to be a major disappointment with limited fish options.

However we did make out for the disappointment by having a fabulous drink party (in company of Lala) at the beach, sumptuous breakfast and a nice morning walk at the beach.

Mr. Adil Hussain Ali

On few of the occasions, I have the priviledges of not using any of my so called photographic skills. This turned out to be one of those where the subject drove the activity.

Mr. Adil Ali Hussain, in case u decide to leave your current Banking profession, U know where you would likely be wanted......

"The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer"

Harihareshwar - Temple Shore

The temple shore is situated at a kilometer from the beach and is famous for Shiva temple constructed in the 16th century. The temple has idols of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahadev and Parvati.

After a short visit to temple and we proceeded towards the shore and what we witnessed here was just amazing. Mother Nature had created some great state of Art work through, what in scientific way is called sedimentation. Sitting on the rocks with Adil, reminded me of all the nostalgic moments at IMDR and at hostel that we shared together. These indeed turned out to be one of the few peaceful moments in my recent chaotic and frantic life.