tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-318455032024-03-13T05:37:27.356+05:30Inside OutTurning my mind inside out...Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-61420416718982198392014-05-22T15:19:00.000+05:302014-05-22T16:02:24.812+05:30When seconds make a difference<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdrFLiTOegh8gDtRb4o4sTZF78O9zq6DFJovcT8DbK15eCdO6priGEP1nygveEdAhDkijYhh6sUn8y5ctCvL_8zjRbsIwsu19UazizLJGDm6iA-eHqdgSEI9jOeOJbHZuc3kgW/s1600/emergency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdrFLiTOegh8gDtRb4o4sTZF78O9zq6DFJovcT8DbK15eCdO6priGEP1nygveEdAhDkijYhh6sUn8y5ctCvL_8zjRbsIwsu19UazizLJGDm6iA-eHqdgSEI9jOeOJbHZuc3kgW/s1600/emergency.jpg" /></a></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">“There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.” ―
Malcolm Gladwell,
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Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Time taken to convey a piece of information to the right receiver can make the difference between life and death. Yesterday midnight as we were about to celebrate a friend's birthday, we saw a woman who looked like an escapee from a mental hospital – white robes, shaven head – walking alone on the road, right against the oncoming traffic, aimlessly looking down. We wondered what to do? My friends suggested we should call the cops. I had the phone number for Sadashivanagar police station. For a brief moment, I hesitated pondering whether it was okay to use my cell phone to make this call. I called up anyway pleading the police to look into the matter. Based on the location details, they told it came under the jurisdiction of Yeshwanthpur police station and gave us the relevant number. On dialing the new number, I was told I'd dialed Jayanagar police station and not Yeshwanthpur. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Amidst all the confusion, the woman had vanished into the distance by the time we could lodge the information at the right place. The person who received the call at Yeshwanthpur police station earnestly took the details and assured that they'll look into the matter. At least ten minutes had lapsed between our taking notice of the lady and the information being conveyed to the police. We don't know what happened afterwards. <br /><br />This made me realize the importance of always having the phone numbers of ALL nearby police stations, hospitals, fire stations etc. The time saved in not having to dig out the correct numbers could save a life or at least avert something bad. But there's another question that has been bothering me. Could I have done something myself? Could I have run up to her and talk her into coming to the safety of the footpath? Could I help her reach wherever she actually needed to? I don't know. I probably didn't have the guts. When it comes to crunch situations, it's about split second decisions. And you can never say, until later, whether those decisions were right. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Knowing how to handle emergencies is a skill in itself, one that few people are trained in. There are cases where people, with all good intentions, have tried to pull out survivors from car wrecks and earthquake rubble only to cause irreparable damage to the already badly injured victims. And instances when in trying to save a drowning friend, the rescuer himself is drowned along with the victim - knowing how to swim and knowing how to rescue a drowning person are two different things. But then, there are bright examples where swift action by the locals helped save several lives in a train mishap. An emergency situation is of danger to the victim as well as the rescuer. So does it all come down to the individual and the particular case at hand? What are your thoughts and recommendations on handling such predicaments? </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In case of emergencies,
how do you make that snap decision on whether YOU do whatever needs to
be done or you just convey the information to someone who might be
better trained to handle the situation?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span><br />In any case, the least you can and must do is to inform someone who you think might alleviate the situation. It's disturbing how so many people chose to ignore and maintain safe distance. If you stay in and around IISc Bangalore, keep these numbers handy. Save them on your cell phones and laptops and PCs. Write them on your diaries and notebooks. Pin them on the wall beside landlines. Even better, remember them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Toll-free numbers for Bangalore City Police: 100, 103<br />Malleswaram Police Station: 080-22942519<br />Sadashivanagar Police Station: 080-22942589<br />Yeshwanthpur Police Station: 080-22942526<br />Ramaiah Hospital 080-23608888</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Toll-free numbers for ambulance: 102, 108, 1062<br />Fire Service control room: 080-22971500</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">For a larger collection of important phone numbers (for Bangalore), see <a href="http://www.karnataka.gov.in/Emergency/Pages/Police.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Bangalore City Police has compiled a nice FAQ <a href="http://www.bcp.gov.in/FAQ.aspx" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Over to you! </span></div>
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Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-66712648436812977852012-11-01T17:00:00.000+05:302012-11-01T19:35:21.468+05:30The dialogue from a Bollywood movie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-arM91Kx4IKNDIGYGkC63r70b6gy7Xr-es6vG6G4WAlAbLw4bwXMW2csyIxJHA4S-a10rsWpwntibUMi02REVrlLl7y9x32G30cq4kt2O0AJRZM6hmwWauk3ChLGCNFymoffs/s1600/melodrama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-arM91Kx4IKNDIGYGkC63r70b6gy7Xr-es6vG6G4WAlAbLw4bwXMW2csyIxJHA4S-a10rsWpwntibUMi02REVrlLl7y9x32G30cq4kt2O0AJRZM6hmwWauk3ChLGCNFymoffs/s1600/melodrama.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">During my convalescence after a knee surgery, I stayed in a close friend Arjun's hostel room as it was in the ground floor and near the bathroom making it convenient for someone on crutches. Also, in case I needed something, he could help me out. Arjun isn't one to keep things neat and tidy. A bundle of soiled clothes and stinking socks would lie in a corner. Spiders and cobwebs abound everywhere. I pick up some item on his table and I'm greeted by a puff of dust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fed up with his lack of cleanliness, I exclaim, "Is there a single thing in your room that's clean?" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He replies with a deadpan face, "Yes there is."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"What is it?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"My heart."</span></div>
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Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-2834135004958142392012-10-27T16:24:00.000+05:302014-05-23T14:53:54.280+05:30God's own country revisited - II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">[Continued from "</span><a href="http://lalitpatnaik.blogspot.in/2012/06/gods-own-country-revisited-i.html" style="-webkit-transition-delay: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.3s; -webkit-transition-property: color; -webkit-transition-timing-function: initial; color: #009eb8; display: inline; line-height: 18px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;">God's own country revisited - I</a><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">"]</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Day-2: 5th May 2012 </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">@ Kunduthode, near Thottilpalam, Kerala</span></b><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Trek to Vattipana Peak </span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"><b>Cocoa harvest at Rex's Estate</b></span><b> </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Here's the story of a trek in 40 selected pictures.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Zco5NLDlBh3e1mwPqDpLtU81xRile-1BN0IW6pzc91tJHyrKXfyD-ikcVTpbv56vL-5XtXbCngaqlfF7pkSdjAAL_UcKnUDXeAhBoAYGzlZrvRejH7bhMta31bd5IWjFGgGB/s1600/Morning-view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Zco5NLDlBh3e1mwPqDpLtU81xRile-1BN0IW6pzc91tJHyrKXfyD-ikcVTpbv56vL-5XtXbCngaqlfF7pkSdjAAL_UcKnUDXeAhBoAYGzlZrvRejH7bhMta31bd5IWjFGgGB/s640/Morning-view.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you wake up early morning to a view like this, you are bound to be </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">full of energy. </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">And we would need lots of it to get there.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeeD-JLyJOUlKzD73edswk-pH__LC89cRcNLRv6UOZ8dVymsuxZ1mEjyxndGH45RauZXBGGrPcXzOTFZ9vhoCHOWHDgDRqiiPUUvPUtvP2XbZ4GlaiPnYmPWTk5o5dF7fS9vE/s1600/Destination-Vattipana.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeeD-JLyJOUlKzD73edswk-pH__LC89cRcNLRv6UOZ8dVymsuxZ1mEjyxndGH45RauZXBGGrPcXzOTFZ9vhoCHOWHDgDRqiiPUUvPUtvP2XbZ4GlaiPnYmPWTk5o5dF7fS9vE/s640/Destination-Vattipana.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">That's our <i>lakshya</i> or destination - Vattipana peak </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">at</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> 2700 feet above mean sea level.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">After his ordeal in </span><a href="http://lalitpatnaik.blogspot.in/2010/05/trip-to-gods-own-country-ii.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">last year's trek</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">, Deepak was hell-bent on not trekking this time. Inspite of long hours of persuasion from everyone, this is how he was disposed as the rest of us left.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmutsnIwNgREmb0ba8NoGfdmNiH8yGbfHUBOUSYKDYxHfMGs30AX0RT7DsKnAbYQU78yOhQJ-ihZqTZ53NfKSV-3kvomR977itFj3BdnylNd8_UylFJQU_8H3DsMsEfcrXkEO/s1600/DSCN2880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmutsnIwNgREmb0ba8NoGfdmNiH8yGbfHUBOUSYKDYxHfMGs30AX0RT7DsKnAbYQU78yOhQJ-ihZqTZ53NfKSV-3kvomR977itFj3BdnylNd8_UylFJQU_8H3DsMsEfcrXkEO/s640/DSCN2880.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Anyway, we let him be and proceeded on our adventure. Different people prepare differently for a trek. Most of us chose jeans and shoes to face up against the thorns, rocks and leeches. But Rijil chose shorts and sandals. Rex, the seasoned campaigner in this terrain since childhood, was nonchalantly attired in lungi and slippers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNg7s-CtsPK6U-VRWa3I4wgLqILSsEUVNNGZq6UqCYfqqThXMcu5ez2cetMhMU91oVRWgDrBpgWIIXTuxyG_EUUzBe7GQbwEWZyvdJiq7jjbhzbGAA465lGPHYgDxtzim90yHP/s1600/02-Rijil-and-Rex.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNg7s-CtsPK6U-VRWa3I4wgLqILSsEUVNNGZq6UqCYfqqThXMcu5ez2cetMhMU91oVRWgDrBpgWIIXTuxyG_EUUzBe7GQbwEWZyvdJiq7jjbhzbGAA465lGPHYgDxtzim90yHP/s640/02-Rijil-and-Rex.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Rijil and Rex walk along the stream. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Rijil </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">looks longingly </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">at </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">the water </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">saying "I'll see you when we are back!"</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Once we were past the stream behind Rex's house, a muddy trail with a modest acclivity took us higher.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvtNYANrOd3V0xdQNIYtDYucfwPesqaXGyIojUn2QPF9gFf_xrvHE72llwxV2T2WyD7EZwZ0_Jf3EJ7rsWKUf7oScJu05rDnpmz_n4KXftdEcgHTC83NvyO2JMgMBZk_Undby/s1600/03-Up-we-go.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvtNYANrOd3V0xdQNIYtDYucfwPesqaXGyIojUn2QPF9gFf_xrvHE72llwxV2T2WyD7EZwZ0_Jf3EJ7rsWKUf7oScJu05rDnpmz_n4KXftdEcgHTC83NvyO2JMgMBZk_Undby/s640/03-Up-we-go.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Up we go!</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">It was nice to see some healthy cashew plantations. We had to resist ourselves from plucking this one as it was in someone else's estate.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJoIKRjCl2WTlB8eU9QSZ14RdII_mUPMtl8JjrCG3rHc5lVegCWgXNXBTFoBbHm52W0NZd7q_uTTdhvGBdJWBF6vfsz5UFE5ao7hQpUVucwwsLVh82xqoEyu2Z3AIM33DlaP8i/s1600/04-Cashew.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJoIKRjCl2WTlB8eU9QSZ14RdII_mUPMtl8JjrCG3rHc5lVegCWgXNXBTFoBbHm52W0NZd7q_uTTdhvGBdJWBF6vfsz5UFE5ao7hQpUVucwwsLVh82xqoEyu2Z3AIM33DlaP8i/s640/04-Cashew.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Cashew nut or <i>kaju</i> (<a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Cashew.html" target="_blank">Anacardium occidentale</a>).</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Even the humble and ubiquitous mimosa plant looked so attractive with lots of these pink flower-heads strewn along the way.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qUgDcIS-Uf_wKGLTwnM3op0jVKimsW2z_KPf0b7thCP574ZfejD-Kb-pKJ2diCyBjg5GjgRH9idrVB9ZXO7b7LyW8a4CxtW0gd-k8xt06CbyU6PT-4CFFApOy_FZi8xoyjvU/s1600/06-Mimosa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6qUgDcIS-Uf_wKGLTwnM3op0jVKimsW2z_KPf0b7thCP574ZfejD-Kb-pKJ2diCyBjg5GjgRH9idrVB9ZXO7b7LyW8a4CxtW0gd-k8xt06CbyU6PT-4CFFApOy_FZi8xoyjvU/s640/06-Mimosa.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The mimosa plant </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">(<a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Touch%20Me%20Not.html" target="_blank">Mimosa pudica</a>) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">says "</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Zara zara,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> touch me (not)!" </span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">One wrong turn on the way up, and we ran into a huge monolithic rock blocking our accent. The only way to circumvent it was to take a brief decent on a relatively steep slope. We had to be on all four limbs moving slowly and cautiously while taking utmost care not to dislodge any stones lest they roll down to hit someone lower down the slope.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQACnO8qaedkf3rFM6GfMJX5_FbMxMHJO_-4dULIw7o-Qb_bhDetkJVesnl7q7cluDlwfim_OBt4whg8Z7MS-IMRWWm4Mi6-bt-ONn69DZjIyHbbizi02hyVdWf2FObBkPfGv/s1600/07-Steep-slope.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQACnO8qaedkf3rFM6GfMJX5_FbMxMHJO_-4dULIw7o-Qb_bhDetkJVesnl7q7cluDlwfim_OBt4whg8Z7MS-IMRWWm4Mi6-bt-ONn69DZjIyHbbizi02hyVdWf2FObBkPfGv/s640/07-Steep-slope.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Tree trunks always seem to be vertical </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">irrespective of the slope of the terrain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">We then took a breather in the shade of a generous kapok tree with it's signature palmately compound leaves and thorny branches. We were carrying lots of water, chocolates, fruits and bread to keep our energy levels up. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNFKdf-yFELpWWX6MTbYXzyX_FZIRPat2u-PySkYcn_D1m-hdP0lfjKbOf_RfHjGb4MUz6CFSp8OMBO7CqmIoPQ0_CpJHJrYD3Z43BE6Gh69ADOSUB1UhoGMmP05v5G2r1g7k/s1600/08-Kapok.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNFKdf-yFELpWWX6MTbYXzyX_FZIRPat2u-PySkYcn_D1m-hdP0lfjKbOf_RfHjGb4MUz6CFSp8OMBO7CqmIoPQ0_CpJHJrYD3Z43BE6Gh69ADOSUB1UhoGMmP05v5G2r1g7k/s640/08-Kapok.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The stately kapok or the white-silk cotton tree </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">(<a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Kapok%20Tree.html" target="_blank">Ceiba pentandra</a>) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">from below. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Sudharshan already started to show symptoms of <i>trekophobia</i> of Deepak fame. Nonetheless, he wasn't as grumbling and continued marching on at his own steady pace.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEY-Zclqz9xD6NcfyfjHM-JgPDDB8gCR1dxFChWPBG9NkNjlsojrnubqVokbik_8uI7hHftXyR2gChDo1xQU0-SJ-9Cyuy3fjaf_BERsZ7_DI1PN6zAqp4s8XfUXJW5vq_q_q/s1600/09-Sudharshan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEY-Zclqz9xD6NcfyfjHM-JgPDDB8gCR1dxFChWPBG9NkNjlsojrnubqVokbik_8uI7hHftXyR2gChDo1xQU0-SJ-9Cyuy3fjaf_BERsZ7_DI1PN6zAqp4s8XfUXJW5vq_q_q/s640/09-Sudharshan.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Sudharshan in his typical looking-down gait. In the background, </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">one can see how cultivated land is eating into forests.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">This spider was patiently waiting for its meal in a web that looked gorgeous as it held on to thousands of droplets of water. Any <strike>entomologist</strike> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">arachnologist </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">out there who could identify this guy?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFK5Tt9wjHityhDZCmedtVcjo52QnA1euCcna5f5kFiujWPKtAXKUja399oPfPXNG3ZehrTP3eLtIaIUzGwuTNo0ZldrBG3dTPMc4SQASetx2OSKPa9_je2pRne5NzaCgdWwH/s1600/10-Spider-web.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFK5Tt9wjHityhDZCmedtVcjo52QnA1euCcna5f5kFiujWPKtAXKUja399oPfPXNG3ZehrTP3eLtIaIUzGwuTNo0ZldrBG3dTPMc4SQASetx2OSKPa9_je2pRne5NzaCgdWwH/s640/10-Spider-web.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Water, water, everywhere, where's my food to eat?</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Found this peculiar umbrella kind of thingy under a tree. Any botanist who could pin this one down?</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2pdu0AHwtOIU6idXI3wRfDkbnjX1sd41IZrubK3PEUYZOp3wHDus3VgszV729X3clRFA3dvZvjSjVTDigbEweRPVcLmFYEjSB8Qz0GtJGLIEbGzYCZWmlXt6T9xts2_17-SV/s1600/11-What-is-this.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2pdu0AHwtOIU6idXI3wRfDkbnjX1sd41IZrubK3PEUYZOp3wHDus3VgszV729X3clRFA3dvZvjSjVTDigbEweRPVcLmFYEjSB8Qz0GtJGLIEbGzYCZWmlXt6T9xts2_17-SV/s640/11-What-is-this.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is this?</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Here and there we would see houses in the middle of nowhere with a flight of stone stairs leading up to them - some had an old, rustic charm while others were well-maintained with avenue plantations of ornamental plants.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnF0u21J8ETQW0yaM_ALON-OP4mlZpNkoY2dIM4h_Q4iILczZtQeB9IRXhFGUzV8q1qlx7QiUUUbRPBLtv4irDKPXv9Jv555kdgIPOkvySgF5W9Bcz3Z7ITqxTqWimda17Owz/s1600/14-Stairs-combined.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnF0u21J8ETQW0yaM_ALON-OP4mlZpNkoY2dIM4h_Q4iILczZtQeB9IRXhFGUzV8q1qlx7QiUUUbRPBLtv4irDKPXv9Jv555kdgIPOkvySgF5W9Bcz3Z7ITqxTqWimda17Owz/s640/14-Stairs-combined.png" height="419" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Stone stairs - the old and the new.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Every now and then, we had to go a short stretch down before we went up again.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3kZkOvPdsu0zmfKtRezFSY2z6JUwSs0_yDs5wFl-jwu65ZghibhnBOeimBiZfP1DhA52veSf4-54NQdCkXWK60DO7oAbTyXEXhRwPELbwPTkqOAr1IfcAOrR7yaxdujXtrK5/s1600/15-Up-and-down-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc3kZkOvPdsu0zmfKtRezFSY2z6JUwSs0_yDs5wFl-jwu65ZghibhnBOeimBiZfP1DhA52veSf4-54NQdCkXWK60DO7oAbTyXEXhRwPELbwPTkqOAr1IfcAOrR7yaxdujXtrK5/s640/15-Up-and-down-1.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Sudharshan goes down as Roshan looks on.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcMtq1Ya8FQtHKxQAi8rkw_jO23H4oEeuZ4mpt-1KctTFgnpIgGIBtH1EXTlrFM_1mibSxvkOSHIaiveMVYrXTcIQFQGj7K1FBMydKFkyVUwVzxtWW-FyetEMkQ5Ys-8a4OBI/s1600/16-Up-and-down-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcMtq1Ya8FQtHKxQAi8rkw_jO23H4oEeuZ4mpt-1KctTFgnpIgGIBtH1EXTlrFM_1mibSxvkOSHIaiveMVYrXTcIQFQGj7K1FBMydKFkyVUwVzxtWW-FyetEMkQ5Ys-8a4OBI/s640/16-Up-and-down-2.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Climb down soldiers.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Sometimes, you just have to stop by and take a look in awe. This was one such occasion. The background is usurped by a stately mountain with a pristine and dense forest cover all over it and clouds caressing it's peak. It's a picture of tranquility and calmness as seen in the deep green hue. The foreground, in contrast, is a lively bright green - a reflection of human activity, of cultivation and it's fruits. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQSWR64XdloLoDQAKzhi9TEE6N6tm1VDSYb-LRYEQ8EpZ5gYRtaAGiQE73U6t5Nl9dMfcCw0X1EVt4otziEWWJJZIwXKqVUGTVrxJmRwfB0yKrH3TAU0d6KbLB2UJNQOaDQ3J/s1600/17-Stop-by.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQSWR64XdloLoDQAKzhi9TEE6N6tm1VDSYb-LRYEQ8EpZ5gYRtaAGiQE73U6t5Nl9dMfcCw0X1EVt4otziEWWJJZIwXKqVUGTVrxJmRwfB0yKrH3TAU0d6KbLB2UJNQOaDQ3J/s640/17-Stop-by.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Stop by and behold, oh </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">traveler</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The mountain cultivators had put an electric fence around their farm to protect against wild foragers. Thankfully, they weren't powered up, so we could cross them as we took a short-cut to the peak. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">The risk paid off as we were soon well above the banana orchard.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZpkAk6UARDQ7hClad15XAWS_Selmqbv3d77436GcaYStHghUY5po_lP-5W6CZpR_QuCWgEmTeyHZbqjFa0Yhr0JtlGVl-qNbUq4VoWgtjbyRWdP9Pz1XDaILFN-pksITmoBi/s1600/18-Electric-fence.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ZpkAk6UARDQ7hClad15XAWS_Selmqbv3d77436GcaYStHghUY5po_lP-5W6CZpR_QuCWgEmTeyHZbqjFa0Yhr0JtlGVl-qNbUq4VoWgtjbyRWdP9Pz1XDaILFN-pksITmoBi/s640/18-Electric-fence.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Sudharshan's tutorial on how to cross an electric fence.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8glLmSP7hk3OGJ0Hg8IBvPPqtW4DPqh_gDQ5hcLcRfyhRbkefOkWo8ECfPrN_D85iiiCqR-1EsgTuJ3LbVsDa4XIPCX_kdBIPUF6Z6PT6KYmSNsBHE2Dcd4VIuP6gYIE29Q3p/s1600/19-Above-banana-orchard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8glLmSP7hk3OGJ0Hg8IBvPPqtW4DPqh_gDQ5hcLcRfyhRbkefOkWo8ECfPrN_D85iiiCqR-1EsgTuJ3LbVsDa4XIPCX_kdBIPUF6Z6PT6KYmSNsBHE2Dcd4VIuP6gYIE29Q3p/s640/19-Above-banana-orchard.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The view from above the banana orchard.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">As we neared the Vattipana peak, we saw numerous surrounding peaks with clouds casting moving dark shadows over them.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8svH_n4o6dAagdubhsRnehkeaMqu7qn6vYZWpXjxsV1N-RWTpWxSrJ0hON6VEhTY4d90FwaVsmhtJ-vhBsdKHn45aq3q_ZcWsHuPilivQXsWwi-uPIAPxW2Y7rolyQiAN4ZP/s1600/20-Other-peaks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8svH_n4o6dAagdubhsRnehkeaMqu7qn6vYZWpXjxsV1N-RWTpWxSrJ0hON6VEhTY4d90FwaVsmhtJ-vhBsdKHn45aq3q_ZcWsHuPilivQXsWwi-uPIAPxW2Y7rolyQiAN4ZP/s640/20-Other-peaks.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Clouds, unlike us, can be hundreds of meters </span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">away from the their own shadows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The last stretch leading up to the peak, was rocky. The dark rocks were baking hot.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZcnZqtEPHPuMQMSO7mqxCZD2ETzjvwLzxQGTC3qSkGRujaPxpoLVKGHYgCC-yGZNxBJ7-HiJyHE_EkdinJF6JFh34EVlYmJCdGM-1fm3OtSxuTlHu-7boKSq3CpOD6_u80vn/s1600/21-Rocky-stretch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZcnZqtEPHPuMQMSO7mqxCZD2ETzjvwLzxQGTC3qSkGRujaPxpoLVKGHYgCC-yGZNxBJ7-HiJyHE_EkdinJF6JFh34EVlYmJCdGM-1fm3OtSxuTlHu-7boKSq3CpOD6_u80vn/s640/21-Rocky-stretch.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Dark rocks lead to our destination and the azure sky beyond.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Here are a couple of shots of the breath-taking view from the top.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgILUImRMQk2XtCXkkp2NBStnzy8BiLB5d1R8W9O-FujWPQTfEStjWAkIbHv3clyhERpRROPwA0B7j8T9XYT87Y3Hw6yKeQkIRO-AFlo11koIobd6Es4cEJUxRHwxey-HUB1F-z/s1600/22-View-from-the-top-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgILUImRMQk2XtCXkkp2NBStnzy8BiLB5d1R8W9O-FujWPQTfEStjWAkIbHv3clyhERpRROPwA0B7j8T9XYT87Y3Hw6yKeQkIRO-AFlo11koIobd6Es4cEJUxRHwxey-HUB1F-z/s640/22-View-from-the-top-1.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSazGBDd95uKo-qHyh3VHK1VfXinkmeuOgUtfrNssT2X6Pj_FViQWXot8plHX_fPfpRlH-6Wl6zWxUi6EFz3x6J-fBKqm5VZ-ngHNxTucR7fbh6yNxNUTrBehLKGFG8pdF5xAX/s1600/23-View-from-the-top-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSazGBDd95uKo-qHyh3VHK1VfXinkmeuOgUtfrNssT2X6Pj_FViQWXot8plHX_fPfpRlH-6Wl6zWxUi6EFz3x6J-fBKqm5VZ-ngHNxTucR7fbh6yNxNUTrBehLKGFG8pdF5xAX/s640/23-View-from-the-top-2.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Where is the horizon?</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The power gang sitting atop Vattipana peak for the second time in three years.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzPnK4f96Dm9hgEb6BYkt0w1HwcGIk0tXUfcxB3S8ADLAwFRruHDo9uGe_6lvmLn8k7n34KZmhlTgJWpILu3KM1Q6rESqSRWF-F3N1JDlGu-diyXgcS-nCv6O5BTbjpfGgCS3/s1600/24-Vattipana-conquered.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzPnK4f96Dm9hgEb6BYkt0w1HwcGIk0tXUfcxB3S8ADLAwFRruHDo9uGe_6lvmLn8k7n34KZmhlTgJWpILu3KM1Q6rESqSRWF-F3N1JDlGu-diyXgcS-nCv6O5BTbjpfGgCS3/s640/24-Vattipana-conquered.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Vattipana conquered!</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jjmbrKFYjAaMm4kHe8pHyKi7Re6u19pZmObDcuhjlODyiCaxKxcNTar5Qx299WYYnpJbhoXn8vZA2rfJLIRcIG793AUhOKFktk_QJswdIXpxFBLifiAlQOny3qyttwZNBYtt/s1600/25-Butterfly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jjmbrKFYjAaMm4kHe8pHyKi7Re6u19pZmObDcuhjlODyiCaxKxcNTar5Qx299WYYnpJbhoXn8vZA2rfJLIRcIG793AUhOKFktk_QJswdIXpxFBLifiAlQOny3qyttwZNBYtt/s640/25-Butterfly.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">At the peak, the lone creature other than us, was a </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">butterfly that was happily perched on Sudharshan's hand.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">We finished off whatever snacks and refreshments we were carrying and braced ourselves for the decent through the grasses straight towards Rex's estate which we were able to see from the peak.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQJh_NfP6u41ZpvP0r41IdWOYal9Kn5fxe8s-FR3YfnVyZHNg15u-3-snkbQ-lxN1hvD_hnxwU6TKY4FLNHfwbSN7gTvbHUTalBOy4RERiC1NNoVxkxQp8hYylamslcTdwxnV/s1600/26-Rex-estate-zoom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQJh_NfP6u41ZpvP0r41IdWOYal9Kn5fxe8s-FR3YfnVyZHNg15u-3-snkbQ-lxN1hvD_hnxwU6TKY4FLNHfwbSN7gTvbHUTalBOy4RERiC1NNoVxkxQp8hYylamslcTdwxnV/s640/26-Rex-estate-zoom.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">A zoomed view of Rex's estate 2450 feet below us.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnquyITcCi6Kx8wA0o7bg_tHTz9fy2cndbioyKSfsaIK0n6shyphenhyphenrhY7j2qFGWNJ47IpVd_FxczjfDvF31wwIJAhpSSIVUGrC9_zy6zufltUcHMC_AVfHC3lnyOqTVON-mTrkzGf/s1600/27-Stream-zoom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnquyITcCi6Kx8wA0o7bg_tHTz9fy2cndbioyKSfsaIK0n6shyphenhyphenrhY7j2qFGWNJ47IpVd_FxczjfDvF31wwIJAhpSSIVUGrC9_zy6zufltUcHMC_AVfHC3lnyOqTVON-mTrkzGf/s640/27-Stream-zoom.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">A zoomed view of a stream thousands of feet below us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KunwgTkw2_IBTXHf1icCg5Av4b3Q6MxW0qd7Hpl9MPstrRhAP_O-HsHabON3p-fetp62YPP9ryuAYuBXVLCCmhUELmpYQQ8sgpX3BV3vPOQXn3ch9ASZtphJ_Hy2a5SF79Pb/s1600/28-Looking-down.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KunwgTkw2_IBTXHf1icCg5Av4b3Q6MxW0qd7Hpl9MPstrRhAP_O-HsHabON3p-fetp62YPP9ryuAYuBXVLCCmhUELmpYQQ8sgpX3BV3vPOQXn3ch9ASZtphJ_Hy2a5SF79Pb/s640/28-Looking-down.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">That's the way down!</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">In a group trek, staying more or less together is key if you don't want to have a few people losing their way. So, if a couple of people go ahead from the pack, they eventually have to wait till the rest catch up. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBqKWxZOmoodIiPSChhqTsk_3-QcM_lXiq6_KCD4-0G8e6qeDN5vApBxb_lh0ynYxlPInKY9Jnc3Y9UQRbBo0kScu91fAuyMM6skNuzr-Ag0fYxVD8TkQ3b2BNXfLEYr2zyFl/s1600/29-Waiting-game.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOBqKWxZOmoodIiPSChhqTsk_3-QcM_lXiq6_KCD4-0G8e6qeDN5vApBxb_lh0ynYxlPInKY9Jnc3Y9UQRbBo0kScu91fAuyMM6skNuzr-Ag0fYxVD8TkQ3b2BNXfLEYr2zyFl/s640/29-Waiting-game.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Rex and Rijil play the waiting game seated on a nice natural piece of furniture.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Down we go among areca-nut trees </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">(</span><a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Betel%20Palm.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">Areca catechu</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">)</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">No sight can be more relieving to a weary trekker - who's out of his supplies - than that of an enchanting well like this one.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The enchanting well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">An improvised water filter served us with cold well water that, in the hot sun, tasted every bit like ambrosia.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">An improvised water filter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">In a very conspicuous way, so much of this place is about water. Be it the streams, the forests they feed, the clouds that loom over, the wells, the bamboo bridges, the weirs. Everything seems to revolve around water. A very striking reminder on the importance of water in life, something we take for granted in cities.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">A bamboo bridge over a stream.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> Small weirs, built across the stream help store water for when the rains are gone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Close to the end of the nine-hour trek, we saw this intriguing plant with petite orange flowers below which there were two glossy bracts bright white in color while the rest of the plant had the normal green leaves. Almost as if someone has carelessly dropped some pieces of paper on it, it's called the paper chase tree.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">The intriguing paper chase tree (</span><a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Dhobi%20Tree.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Mussaenda glabrata</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Going down turned out to be much faster than climbing up, because most of the time we were working against gravity that was trying to take us down in a hurry and also because we took a shorter, more direct, route. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Abhijit heads back to base camp amid vegetation of all sizes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">After the tiring trek, the entire gang went to the stream behind Rex's house for a refreshing bath.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Stream, stream, here we come!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">The crystal clear stream water.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Up next was, cocoa </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">(</span><a href="http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Cocoa%20Tree.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Theobroma cacao</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">harvest</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> for chocolate making. Cocoa fruits are quite big - six to eight inches long, four inches across. The white pulp around the cocoa seeds has a taste reminiscent of custard apple, while the seeds themselves have that characteristic bitter chocolate flavour. After a few days of fermentation and further processes as per Abhijit's secret recipe, we had home-made chocolate on our lab table. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Abhijit and Roshan expertly scoop out the cocoa.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Cocoa seeds.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">The facade of Rex's comely home.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The ideal way to unwind after the long day, was the post dinner relaxed chit-chat sitting on the large rock behind the house, with the moon and the stars gazing at us amid intermittent music on Sudharshan's guitar and alluring calls from the brain-fever bird. That was one day thoroughly lived.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Photo credits: Abhijit Kshirsagar and Roshan Kumar Pappu</span></div>
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Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-5261600147758467632012-06-09T21:32:00.000+05:302012-10-30T18:18:41.150+05:30God's own country revisited - I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There's some enchanting lure about Kerala that keeps pulling you back towards it. Two year's after the <a href="http://lalitpatnaik.blogspot.in/2010/05/trip-to-gods-own-country-i.html" target="_blank">first lab-trip</a> to God's own country, we were at it again. There isn't a dearth of exotic destinations in Kerala. Still we chose to revisit pretty much the same part of Kerala that we'd fallen in love with last time around - Kozhikode and Wayanad.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><b>Day-1: 4th May 2012</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Places visited:</b><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> Kozhikode, Soochipara Falls, Banasurasagar Dam</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A thoroughly drenched Yesvantpur-Kannur Express safely delivered us to <b>Kozhikode</b> having gone through a particularly noisy overnight thunderstorm. A typical Kerala style breakfast comprising stew, appam, idiyappam and plantains at Rijil's place prepared us for the day ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The city of Kozhikode is an alluring blend between the urban and the rustic. From inside</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> our Tata Sumo Grande, one moment we would see a swanky mall and the very next an eye-full of greenery. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's a pleasure to drive around the city roads in Kozhikode.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As we ascended the ghat section near Kozhikode, we got engulfed in a sea of green of various hues. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just as it leaves Kozhikode, National Highway No.212 goes through nine hairpin bends leading to a scenic viewpoint providing a panoramic vista of the ghats. To have ice-cream while you soak in the scenery is amazing but to litter the spot with wrappers is simply unforgivable. When will the Indian tourist learn to respect his own land?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Look out of the window and behold the greens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The hairpin bends of the Kozhikode ghat section as seen from the viewpoint.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At the view-point, one gets to see two pictures - a spell-binding one </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">conjured by </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">mother nature </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and repugnant litter created by irresponsible men.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our next halt was the <b>Soochipara waterfalls</b> in Vellarimala, Wayanad. In Malayalam, "Soochi" means "needle" and "para" means "rock". To realize how apt the name is, you need to take a 10-15 minutes walk through a trail - partly muddy, partly rocky - from the security check to the foot of the falls. Sitting with your head and shoulders under the barrage of cold water pounding down on you is ethereal bliss. It's like a refreshing cold water shower combined with a healing massage from a seasoned acupressurist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As you walk to the falls, don't forget to take an extra pair of shorts and a towel!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Seated on the rocks, you can relax yourself with your feet dipped in the cool water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But the real fun is right under the falls, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">letting the cold 'needles' of water hit you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Green leaves and a network of roots hold on to t</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">he</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> dark rocks as the water gushes down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Apparently, the quantum of water flow and the depth of water at the foot of the falls is exponentially higher in the rainy season making it impossible for tourists to get the same kind of experience that we had. That would be an awe-inspiring form of the same site. We witnessed the more friendly and amiable avatar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Our next destination was Asia's second largest earthen dam, the <b>Banasurasagar dam</b> on</span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini river. The reservoir of water held up by the dam was a pretty picture dotted with hills. On the other side of the dam was an incline covered with verdant grass.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The grassy incline leading to the top of the dam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rocks, water, hills, clouds and sky come together in a perfect picture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There were motor-boats in the reservoir, but they were far too noisy to blend with the tranquility of the surroundings. So, we chose to stay away from the boats and to just soak in the beauty with all our senses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sitting silently atop the dam as you are caressed with an invigorating breeze - pure bliss. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Beside the dam, there's a park and a </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">jack-fruit </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">grove with numerous swings tied to the trees. It was a reintroduction to the simple thrill of swinging, something forgotten after school days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Up, up and away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The sun and the clouds play hide-and-seek casting rays that reach you carrying </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">some mysterious message</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Call it the enlightenment coming from above.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The three destinations for the day rekindled the child-like fun in us as we moved towards Rex's estate at Kunduthode expectantly bracing ourselves for a challenging trek on the following day.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">[To be continued in "</span><span style="line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://lalitpatnaik.blogspot.in/2012/10/gods-own-country-revisited-ii.html" target="_blank">God's own country revisited - II</a></span></span><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">"]</span></div>
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Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-10898214357365729902012-05-11T14:35:00.000+05:302012-05-12T15:31:27.328+05:30Life in a bell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMCceVlPb8xmWC8lxZ2QXnref4A1cmBKCuzWPf8LdYnAUvapdcybSdZp4B3oRJgK85wVv7nIqcJOiZpncwTH8Rk1CR9F1imDaHmgXyhgxmzuSzsU4UHdJynOjXbL2S_iMJy0M/s1600/bell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMCceVlPb8xmWC8lxZ2QXnref4A1cmBKCuzWPf8LdYnAUvapdcybSdZp4B3oRJgK85wVv7nIqcJOiZpncwTH8Rk1CR9F1imDaHmgXyhgxmzuSzsU4UHdJynOjXbL2S_iMJy0M/s400/bell.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Life in a bell </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[Photo courtesy: </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaveer/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">Kaveer Rai's Photostream</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you have the tring-tring kind of bell on your bicycle, have you ever noticed that the place where you press it with your thumb has something like "LIFExx" written on it (xx stands for a two-digit number). On the photo above it's "LIFE99" and on my own humble Hercules Thriller it's "LIFE72". What does it mean? Any answers?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-5513219269692530542012-04-29T19:50:00.000+05:302012-04-29T19:58:56.150+05:30Khidki kholo andolan!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCYSmPPULlpS0m0d0ZKwwGqt8WnN2rKerxkQYLc1HRJ6EkC2CbKnlHRFeqIoQjuzOcAqj8kw8wOgcHYbbNOn01YvklmDV2rj5ul1gcGy4xOzg2akkiarSJMiwlPfcmS-cWfvo/s1600/open-window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCYSmPPULlpS0m0d0ZKwwGqt8WnN2rKerxkQYLc1HRJ6EkC2CbKnlHRFeqIoQjuzOcAqj8kw8wOgcHYbbNOn01YvklmDV2rj5ul1gcGy4xOzg2akkiarSJMiwlPfcmS-cWfvo/s320/open-window.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Corporate offices started the trend. Government and public sector offices caught up with it. And now even educational institutions and homes are following the pointless practice. I call it the 'cocooned-indoor-syndrome'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">By constructing closed and cocooned work-places - where you don't have a sense of day or night - the trend-setters i.e. the employers probably expected you to work away without concerns of passage of time. But for heaven's sake, I hope they realized that most of us have at least five different ways - own watch, cell phone, corner of the desktop, co-worker's watch and hunger - of finding out what the time is. Once the trend is set, you always have hordes of followers who actually don't know why they're doing it but will still do it convincing themselves with excuses like 'higher standard of living', 'progress', and 'development'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When you have so much of natural light available during the day, why does everyone keep themselves locked inside dark dungeons that need (read waste) thousands of valuable watts trying to light up the work-space?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But yes, lighting takes up only peanuts of power when you compare it with the most gluttonous of all electrical loads - the air conditioner. So the idea is you make your work-space air-tight and then install air-conditioners to heat the surroundings of the building (well actually, may be to cool the indoors so that people inside can use suits, jackets and shawls) well enough so that people coming from outside crave even more for the air-conditioned interiors. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In most cases, ceiling fans are more than enough. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">How about planting lots of trees around the building and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">opening all the windows?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Why not take care of cooling and ventilation in a much more economically and ecologically saner way?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The cynics say "Can you bear 40 degree Celsius?". I answer "It certainly is difficult. But, if I don't bear it now and give in to AC's, I might have to bear 50 degree Celsius within a decade!". </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you feel for the cause, do join the '</span><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">khidki kholo andolan</i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">' (losely translates to 'the open-your-windows movement').</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[Disclaimer: Most of the above arguments hold for hot countries like India and not for cold countries]</span></div>
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<br /></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-43832533367249156932011-12-12T01:24:00.001+05:302011-12-12T01:37:20.737+05:30Where are the windows?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFtQ7bK23f-uMLO_UpfdClrJbiiItlc0aIpqBSYuM31kmQNomXXOJGGh_d_VADMqgpGQxTrmAjYJqhNqVxXh5gmoZTM2jeD6JI2OZxRxt5mWTuvx9zsjOU_TjUAHLBqc6OH-h/s1600/coal-train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFtQ7bK23f-uMLO_UpfdClrJbiiItlc0aIpqBSYuM31kmQNomXXOJGGh_d_VADMqgpGQxTrmAjYJqhNqVxXh5gmoZTM2jeD6JI2OZxRxt5mWTuvx9zsjOU_TjUAHLBqc6OH-h/s320/coal-train.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">On a train journey, one of my co-passengers was a very inquisitive and talkative three-year old. She kept everyone amused with her endless series of questions and answers. As an open-top goods train passed by, I asked her "Hey, where are the windows of that train?" She paused for a moment and replied triumphantly, "On the top!"</span></div>
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</div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-3675433923685235082011-12-08T23:58:00.001+05:302011-12-09T01:11:30.407+05:30A Session at Railway Stadium, Bhubaneswar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZFuOSYnBV9NUauQGftgjjIg2Az4ABNwieQFCV2qTqmUeY6-7qSE_R5uEp-NIMO128YkDDyQeSDvnxarJwO2ONpJ_5WpwRHyFxv4m6kNT6Ug_OZw9Tdep6QZ0PRulmRAQ7_u9/s1600/dec+2011+074.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ZFuOSYnBV9NUauQGftgjjIg2Az4ABNwieQFCV2qTqmUeY6-7qSE_R5uEp-NIMO128YkDDyQeSDvnxarJwO2ONpJ_5WpwRHyFxv4m6kNT6Ug_OZw9Tdep6QZ0PRulmRAQ7_u9/s640/dec+2011+074.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A view of the </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">pavilion of the East Coast Railway Stadium, Bhubaneswar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Like uncountable other Indian guys of my generation, I've grown up playing and watching a lot of cricket. All my childhood I missed watching a first-class cricket match live in a stadium. My hometown Bhubaneswar didn't have a proper cricket stadium. International matches at Barabati stadium in the neighboring town of Cuttack were few and far between. <br /><br />After having shifted to Bangalore, I've witnessed the <a href="http://lalitpatnaik.blogspot.com/2008/10/session-at-chinnaswamy.html">stadium experience</a> quite a few times in all three formats of the game at the revered Chinnaswamy stadium. Yet that desire of watching a <i>big</i> match in my home town remained unfulfilled. This December, when I came home on vacation, the Ranji Trophy Elite match between Orissa and Karnataka was to be played at the newly built East Coast Railway stadium at Bhubaneswar. I didn't let the chance go and dropped by for the post-tea session on day three of the four-day match. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The status of the match at that point was as follows: Tea, Day-3<br />Karnataka - 1st innings: 278 all out (CM Gautam 63)<br />Orissa - 1st innings: 255 all out (BB Samantray 65, G Poddar 53, S Binny 5/51)<br />Karnataka - 2nd innings: 119/5<br /><br />Though Orissa had failed to get the crucial first innings lead, they had the visitors in a spot of bother in the second essay. The bowling was disciplined if not incisive. But, <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2011/content/player/26441.html">Amit Verma</a> and <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2011/content/player/302208.html">CM Gautam</a> were defending stoutly and scoring the odd boundary. <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-domestic-2011/content/player/324477.html">Basant Mohanty</a>'s peach of a delivery that sent CM Gautam's stump on a cartwheel was a view to behold and the take-home moment for me. All of fifty runs and a solitary wicket came in the session. Yet it was a fascinating tussle between bat and ball, the kind of old-school grinding cricket that the purist in me could appreciate. Here's the story in pictures.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoNWjRmF1B6t6nTLp0SFd9veTDFWUUq-MNA8zXlR4u1gKIi9natFNlGWjl5FNfHxN1rido9uPWt4Ogy58gEZzy27NdPBSqZYf6c0ePg_1ftmTvQk2R9IwSWTwMVYeDw3b-41r/s1600/dec+2011+059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoNWjRmF1B6t6nTLp0SFd9veTDFWUUq-MNA8zXlR4u1gKIi9natFNlGWjl5FNfHxN1rido9uPWt4Ogy58gEZzy27NdPBSqZYf6c0ePg_1ftmTvQk2R9IwSWTwMVYeDw3b-41r/s640/dec+2011+059.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">CM Gautham showcases his compact defence.</span></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4UgAum3pWmseZL_jc8qvAEdVIJX3Z0u_PqcGw7lVoaWf7tdEGLuNYhEYXegZ0pP3kWFlZH8pWL5pmfJMQg6GU3N6mTa_hnJdYVCpFblMa590bdXGfT5uxRMaJ-5WK5bvj4at0/s1600/dec+2011+064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4UgAum3pWmseZL_jc8qvAEdVIJX3Z0u_PqcGw7lVoaWf7tdEGLuNYhEYXegZ0pP3kWFlZH8pWL5pmfJMQg6GU3N6mTa_hnJdYVCpFblMa590bdXGfT5uxRMaJ-5WK5bvj4at0/s640/dec+2011+064.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Team Orissa celebrates as Basant Mohanty sent back CM Gautham with a peach.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY48IO2X4RQ00LzWlADRsHiev6j6DwdBDgI-QQqpszoz0dBFCaoWQQ_Pa-Ly5QUGUbAgPTaoHKjFPAPVThm382RAIMv6Le3-7j-1itZK_dmAVk8JdERLRTRQVbPHkb6YEoBRp/s1600/dec+2011+068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY48IO2X4RQ00LzWlADRsHiev6j6DwdBDgI-QQqpszoz0dBFCaoWQQ_Pa-Ly5QUGUbAgPTaoHKjFPAPVThm382RAIMv6Le3-7j-1itZK_dmAVk8JdERLRTRQVbPHkb6YEoBRp/s640/dec+2011+068.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Paresh Patel bowls to Amit Verma during a stingy spell of 6-4-5-0. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Mancheswar electric substation can be seen in the backdrop.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsAWs0Bm6SfT9UFVF5vkoW6dvPgYRivdSCE2_2Cam6l2f5SNm7rfbfQKW9wVCd8K3DVAsKuFi_-X9ukIg_2tY-_HZ0XMc8YSSdZ-v83JPmzK_SXTv6HKZTeXd6YN8ou_T32kS/s1600/dec+2011+072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAsAWs0Bm6SfT9UFVF5vkoW6dvPgYRivdSCE2_2Cam6l2f5SNm7rfbfQKW9wVCd8K3DVAsKuFi_-X9ukIg_2tY-_HZ0XMc8YSSdZ-v83JPmzK_SXTv6HKZTeXd6YN8ou_T32kS/s640/dec+2011+072.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">That's what I call the poor man's super sopper.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4wVKblnJC61EcAEhr5QuwO4WU7W0jhHhajIa2bXloV3bc-MmFL-fWIvTmyJ3ZtNypyZm5J2yaVAx22V-Ho_mbnJnx-qqnLXLyLhmw0gNj3vmagf6vswXSDcFtXfVoTk5zcDj/s1600/dec+2011+085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4wVKblnJC61EcAEhr5QuwO4WU7W0jhHhajIa2bXloV3bc-MmFL-fWIvTmyJ3ZtNypyZm5J2yaVAx22V-Ho_mbnJnx-qqnLXLyLhmw0gNj3vmagf6vswXSDcFtXfVoTk5zcDj/s640/dec+2011+085.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Amit Verma threads one through the covers.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjXovwQtfTtd8vyZTbfhSjDXY9v1YtHb0rVbKJhWjWkVN_kQV117ccJo7DhJDtiUhLkF-eiN9yoTGeDa172_RO-UmoneCkJ3KNtvdFKGoAnCSY8YaJRl_o-bZpVlem378VcDk/s1600/dec+2011+094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjXovwQtfTtd8vyZTbfhSjDXY9v1YtHb0rVbKJhWjWkVN_kQV117ccJo7DhJDtiUhLkF-eiN9yoTGeDa172_RO-UmoneCkJ3KNtvdFKGoAnCSY8YaJRl_o-bZpVlem378VcDk/s640/dec+2011+094.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Amit Verma and SN Raju played through fading light </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As the photos testify, the ground was a pretty sight - lovely green outfield with tall fences all around. But there are no galleries, only bushes and shrubs. Just about a hundred curious onlookers had gathered. A few years down the line I hope to see big galleries teeming with spectators witnessing an international match at the venue.</span></div>
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</div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-27489218659500490702011-10-26T13:00:00.000+05:302012-08-11T15:38:00.839+05:30Prayaas - music album release<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3tVX9LIq4XeTaYbceS2xQ-bglUb17djjGcNmMfbLtr20XMBMbrWqLQOwliwsaf5zIua9AwnIEHv0WoStvIqbsPLbjjJ1hfiN2Sxtb-qqz21_mvCQ7FyOb7vAZLlcxLgZzXEg/s1600/prayaas.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3tVX9LIq4XeTaYbceS2xQ-bglUb17djjGcNmMfbLtr20XMBMbrWqLQOwliwsaf5zIua9AwnIEHv0WoStvIqbsPLbjjJ1hfiN2Sxtb-qqz21_mvCQ7FyOb7vAZLlcxLgZzXEg/s320/prayaas.png" width="225" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Wish you a very happy festival of lights!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Welcome to the Diwali music release of my first album titled <i>Prayaas</i>. The album comprises six purely instrumental music pieces composed and rendered on FruityLoops software. Each of these short compositions was made long back in 2005-06 during my halcyon days at Rourkela. For close to six years they lay hidden in an old hard disk. Not any longer. There isn't any general theme to the album except that each piece took some serious effort from a novice musician whose knowledge of music is next to null. Hence the name "Prayaas" that loosely translates to "a try". Each track is very different from the others in terms of the image it invokes in the mind. I hope at least a tune or two strikes a chord with you!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Here are the tracks:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. Village trail - 3:32</span><span style="font-size: small;"> - <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_zQVzTaKJjdNDFVNmNBZXdCMTA" target="_blank">download mp3</a></span></div>
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2. Just rock it - 2:12 - <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_zQVzTaKJjdTUxIOHRQQmdjNTQ" target="_blank">download mp3</a></div>
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3. Dark waters - 1:15 - <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_zQVzTaKJjdRGhKVmRwYnd5dGM" target="_blank">download mp3</a></div>
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4. Spooky old fortress - 2:31 - <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_zQVzTaKJjdQnB6c2FZcUV2WGs" target="_blank">download mp3</a></div>
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5. Arabian beauty - 2:25 - <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_zQVzTaKJjdWDB2am80VUZ3VDg" target="_blank">download mp3</a></div>
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6. DJ Lapresh - 0:58 - <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_zQVzTaKJjdMFY4NkN4TnpRNzg" target="_blank">download mp3</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Any feedback from the audience is most welcome :)</span></span><br />
<br /></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-79150693892443668812011-09-25T11:51:00.000+05:302011-09-25T11:51:51.155+05:30Long live Tiger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, popularly known as Tiger Pataudi, passed away a couple of days back. Although I never had the privilege to watch him play, I've read and heard enough about his folklore to know that he was a true legend of cricket. He'll always be remembered for the fearlessness and confidence he infused into Indian cricket. Here's an extract from <a href="http://cricketnext.in.com/news/mak-pataudi-the-eye-of-the-tiger/60279-13.html">cricketnext.in</a> that gives an idea of the man's stature. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Just a few months before he became India's captain, Pataudi had lost his right eye in a car accident. Where others saw one ball, reportedly he saw two, seven inches apart. He had to pick the right one - the inner image - if he were to get bat to ball. And did he do that with panache or what. Six hundreds, including a double hundred, and 16 fifties bear testimony to his grit.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Just tells that no handicap can stop you if you have the grit and courage to fight it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Rest in peace, Tiger.</span></div>
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Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-25047634599180608492011-08-15T15:58:00.001+05:302011-08-15T16:11:28.380+05:30I-day with a pinch of salt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_dJYPIEOyle62SS3RuUrRAWCKEWlEgWDjWtayg_sZmOL7Eu7SGw8Lr_-ewHVx1cC5s2CrqxHhD2_msBvoZkRYhcmWyekmw5LO6yGZnuFr7oxSO7NKNIwv4kXtynO_KhUNVPy/s1600/the-proud-indian-flag-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_dJYPIEOyle62SS3RuUrRAWCKEWlEgWDjWtayg_sZmOL7Eu7SGw8Lr_-ewHVx1cC5s2CrqxHhD2_msBvoZkRYhcmWyekmw5LO6yGZnuFr7oxSO7NKNIwv4kXtynO_KhUNVPy/s320/the-proud-indian-flag-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">As India celebrates her 65th Independence Day, I feel a mixture of emotions.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"> There is happiness and pride over the several achievements spanning varied fields in the past decades. Yet there's that regret, a knot in the stomach, that tells me that there's something that has gone terribly wrong.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Collectively speaking, we have become far more educated and skilled but on the way we seem to have lost character and simplicity. Note that I don't refer to corrupt politicians or inveterate criminals in third person. 'They' are also part of 'us'. They are the products of the same society and system that has produced us.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> They are an exaggerated reflection of the negative qualities that reside in us. There's especially one negative quality that spawns a plethora of problems. It's called greed often <a href="http://lalitpatnaik.blogspot.com/2011/05/of-need-and-greed.html">confused</a> with its harmless cousin called need.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today, greed is promoted in the name of progress.<span data-jsid="text"> </span>Blindly following the glorified western model of reckless consumerism has had a deeply pejorative effect on the country's resources. There's an ever increasing craving for more - more money, more power, more food, more fuel, more land, more what not. <span data-jsid="text"></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-jsid="text">There's a quote on the subject of road expansion that beautifully captures the essence of many of the problems that plague the society today. It says "Widening of roads to counter the traffic problem is like loosening the belt to counter obesity". It's the growing belly that's the problem and not the belt around it! Everyone's consuming more than what is required. I just don't understand the logic of associating a higher level of consumption with development. Where's simplicity gone? </span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-jsid="text">You might oppose this line of thinking by saying 'what about the poor and down-trodden?'. Yes, they need to be given access to more resources to improve their quality of life. But that extra demand can be easily met if the privileged ones were to use their resources judiciously. It's possible to meet the needs of the underprivileged without a significant increase in the </span><span data-jsid="text">total consumption of resources.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span data-jsid="text">But are we willing to lead a simpler life, to be more careful with our consumption patterns, to 'reduce, reuse and recycle' and to go a step further and show compassion? Only if there are enough answers in the affirmative can we say that we may achieve freedom from the many children of greed - crime, corruption, pollution and others.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /></span></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-119433369749416022011-07-30T18:50:00.003+05:302012-10-27T16:57:59.654+05:30The Googly!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENg_nR575YRO-Zb17uXcRQQIKEKElLNYvvpUc35Xjwc5qZWhLGvz69Sm6sMjzyYnPT50PftnUTx6hyi1TWAk7_-ImMc0GZghBGU3kmBeSSNquZ50WlRXxzUbtkD1eX2mmLjfv/s1600/googly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjENg_nR575YRO-Zb17uXcRQQIKEKElLNYvvpUc35Xjwc5qZWhLGvz69Sm6sMjzyYnPT50PftnUTx6hyi1TWAk7_-ImMc0GZghBGU3kmBeSSNquZ50WlRXxzUbtkD1eX2mmLjfv/s1600/googly.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">As non-professional weekend cricketers, we pride ourselves in the knowledge of the game's nuances. The best of the cricket pundits claim to be able to predict what the ball would do just by looking at the bowler's hand at the point of release. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">And of course, we discuss the game off the field as well. One such occasion, a team-mate wanted to test my credentials. "Tell me whether it's off-spin, leg-spin, doosra, googly or whatever"</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"> he blurted as he turned his arm over. "Back of the hand facing the batsman. Now that has to be a googly" I insisted. Pat came the retort, "Sorry, NO ball".</span><br />
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Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-28980632341987602692011-05-01T11:01:00.003+05:302011-05-01T11:34:59.059+05:30Of need and greed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yrQsC6vwRbZRrCs6CMQB1lU8-Myhkjr6s80U76XMa2Etk0fduHs_oxemr6OMkNr9CjacAr0PNL3XA5oeTrF6BWefZNFgUrL0dowmcbTU7mulwwG2sX6JF_7KPvfp9TQvYrI9/s1600/Contrast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yrQsC6vwRbZRrCs6CMQB1lU8-Myhkjr6s80U76XMa2Etk0fduHs_oxemr6OMkNr9CjacAr0PNL3XA5oeTrF6BWefZNFgUrL0dowmcbTU7mulwwG2sX6JF_7KPvfp9TQvYrI9/s640/Contrast.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> The world of contrasts. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Photo credits: <a href="http://joshidaniel.com/">Joshi Daniel</a>, <a href="http://currentbusiness.co.uk/economic-news/economic-confidence-grows-in-japan/">currentbusiness</a>]</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
<blockquote><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="sqq" style="font-size: small;">"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed" </span></div><span class="sqq"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">-Mahatma Gandhi</span></span></span></blockquote></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Poverty alleviation</i> is about meeting man's <i>needs</i>. <i>Economic growth</i> is about meeting man's <i>greed</i>. And the first is definitely more important than the second. While needs are few, greed can be unending, which tells us that the first should also be easier to achieve than the second. Yet, humanity seems to be crawling towards the first goal while it's hurtling towards the second.</span></div><br />
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</div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-21217437690169877082011-04-20T14:26:00.003+05:302011-04-24T12:40:40.807+05:30The joy of teaching<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9-UPnKwYxcRu4QhFt3JzxUp-HTGS-cHIB7aO7vAienf06d5p1MDYCCkBThpdImV1F0WBXI5XHW-xPbIBUBexO_mgl_kXiP6tVkvQepR7FxzkLZ5pnk9j65xDDpNjwhhyNHqz/s1600/teach1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9-UPnKwYxcRu4QhFt3JzxUp-HTGS-cHIB7aO7vAienf06d5p1MDYCCkBThpdImV1F0WBXI5XHW-xPbIBUBexO_mgl_kXiP6tVkvQepR7FxzkLZ5pnk9j65xDDpNjwhhyNHqz/s1600/teach1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most broadcast emails in my institute email folder end up getting deleted but this one caught my fancy. The Parent-Teacher Association of Kendriya Vidhyala (KV) in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus was looking for volunteers from among the well-educated institute community who could take a few classes in the school. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">With several of the regular KV teachers away on evaluation duties, the idea was to keep the students engaged and hopefully ignite their minds by having researchers from IISc talking to them. There was no pressure to stick to any prescribed syllabi. The volunteers were literally left free to teach whatever they wish. <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent>For instance, Karthik taught <a href="http://jkarthikr.blogspot.com/2011/04/adventures-in-teaching-late-last-week.html">lateral thinking</a> and <a href="http://jkarthikr.blogspot.com/2011/04/more-adventures-in-teaching-i-spent.html">English</a> to ninth grade students. </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></span> </div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Notwithstanding the limited experience I had – on occasions, I’d taught my own classmates in school and college just before exam days – I always enjoyed teaching. It gave me immense satisfaction to be able to make someone understand something. Since my early days of education, I’ve been secretly taking mental notes of what I liked in a teacher and things that I disliked. Now it was time to put it all into use in a real classroom, albeit with a bunch of eleventh standard pupils. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Keeping my crippled condition in mind – I was convalescing from a knee surgery - I opted for a solitary lecture of one hour duration. I chose “Physics in Daily Life” as I wanted my pupils to look at physics not as yet another subject to mug up and score off but as a powerful weapon that when wielded with skill can explain much of the phenomena we see around us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eleventh grade students can be really unruly and obstreperous I was told. A fellow volunteer apprehended that somebody could possibly run away with my crutch leaving me stranded! I was expecting the worst. But I was in for a pleasant surprise.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The first thing I noticed when I entered the class was that the girls far out-numbered the boys. I’d never seen such a thing in all my education. I tried to make my pupils feel comfortable by starting off with some small talk and slowly delved into the subject matter. Most of them were very receptive and enthusiastic. Their eagerness and inquisitiveness fuelled my own urge to put the concepts across. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Throughout the class, the <i>modus operandi</i> was - present an example from daily life, discuss and explain why it happens with a liberal dose of hints and humor, and then unearth the law behind it. I won’t say I 'covered' such and such topics. But at least I managed to touch upon the humble yet profound concepts of Newton’s Laws of Motion and Newton’s Law of Gravitation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">I used to hate it in school when teachers used to go on lecturing several minutes beyond the stipulated time. Hence I made it a point to stop dot on time. And as I bid them good bye, I got what I shall call the icing on the cake. They applauded with smiles and claps. If that’s what they call the joy of learning, I wish I could tell them the joy of making someone learn. Thank you XI ‘A’.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-39843026370140854092011-01-20T23:17:00.000+05:302011-01-20T23:17:01.907+05:30Ashfaque ton ousts IISc<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">16 January 2011, IISc Gymkhana</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Gr</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ound, Bangalore: </span>A swashbuckling century from Ashfaque (111*) coupled with some inept bowling and catching from IISc brought an end to what had been a dream season for IISc. Indiranagar Cricketers thus go through to the semi-finals of the KSCA IV Division League 2010-11. The end of the season also marks the passing of the baton - team IISc now has a new captain and vice-captain.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span>Catch the details here:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span><a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2011/01/ashfaque-ton-ousts-iisc.html">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2011/01/ashfaque-ton-ousts-iisc.html</a></span></span></div></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-3537666893972725122011-01-12T00:56:00.004+05:302011-11-07T15:30:16.193+05:30A 'vice' anecdote<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVM4jBgwwlb_QVxGlC19pzK94xOIxtJ94QCnihfArbM5j6XA8GjFYFN0FT-HOtjBAD08UJ1UlNSbVeXK5KqzUH2YjKtyLn_C92e2gRrHVWOKxNddaoroFpX6gMAec-y4W-KNE7/s1600/bench-vice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVM4jBgwwlb_QVxGlC19pzK94xOIxtJ94QCnihfArbM5j6XA8GjFYFN0FT-HOtjBAD08UJ1UlNSbVeXK5KqzUH2YjKtyLn_C92e2gRrHVWOKxNddaoroFpX6gMAec-y4W-KNE7/s320/bench-vice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">People in our laboratory use a bench vice every now and then to hold a circuit board in place while soldering or de-soldering. While taking stock of all the stuff we </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">had in the lab, a lab-mate asked a pertinent question "How many vices do we have?" to which my matter-of-fact answer was "innumerable".</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">Didn't get it? Check this out:</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vise_%28tool%29">Vice - 1st meaning</a> </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vice" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Vice - 2nd meaning</a></span></i></div>
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</div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-63308500386199036572011-01-12T00:18:00.000+05:302011-01-12T00:18:29.960+05:30Ace Cricketers shock IISc<div class="post-header"> </div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">9 January 2011, IISc Gymkhana Ground, Bangalore: </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The game never ceases to amaze. IISc went into the match on the back of a five-match winning streak while Ace Cricketers came in having been beaten twice in the Super League stage to be all but out of the KSCA IV Division League 2010-11. The match seemed to be going according to script with the latter being skittled out for 115. Yet, the visitors pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat by bundling out IISc for a dismal 81 thus securing a 34 run victory. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Catch the match report here:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2011/01/ace-cricketers-shock-iisc.html"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2011/01/ace-cricketers-shock-iisc.html</span></span></a></span>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-76334684293888061942010-12-28T13:11:00.000+05:302010-12-28T13:11:46.187+05:30IISc win Boxing Day bout<div class="post-header" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">26 December 2010, IISc Gymkhana</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Gr</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ound, Bangalore:</span> The KSCA Metro Shield Super League match between IISc and Sirur Park was much like a boxing bout. Both sides threw measured punches and jabs at opportune moments. It was a hard-fought battle till about 20 overs into the second innings when IISc started the hijack and took total control. Debajit (4/38) and Ashith (4/39) did the trick for IISc with a veritable exhibition of swing bowling.</span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Catch the match report here:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/iisc-win-boxing-day-bout.html">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/iisc-win-boxing-day-bout.html</a></span></span>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-32212096552197203322010-12-21T21:43:00.000+05:302010-12-21T21:43:02.241+05:30Young Lions hunt down IISc<div class="post-header"> </div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">19 December 2010, IISc Gymkhana</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Gr</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ound, Bangalore: </span>Masterful half centuries from Nihal (78) and <a href="http://www.malnadgladiators.com/Players.aspx?p=15">Santosh</a> (53) coupled with some inept fielding from IISc helped Young Lions Cricket Club prevail over IISc in a friendly match here. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Catch the match report here:</span></span><br />
<a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/young-lions-hunt-down-iisc.html"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/young-lions-hunt-down-iisc.html</span></span></a>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-8962519674838407582010-12-14T22:14:00.001+05:302012-08-11T15:50:50.598+05:30"Play and break the thinking loop"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XZEf4SRflAg13vswbk3yeDLNjQcBhh8JTTSY-S51JnmGE-nj7IXaeRwWWGedu4GSvSREHL7LYRuMj5rp04SfJcvHc9sdcNa0g_g1zTLDhYmbvnn4JOKiwqoSDTlBOnVPFxQC/s1600/Arindam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XZEf4SRflAg13vswbk3yeDLNjQcBhh8JTTSY-S51JnmGE-nj7IXaeRwWWGedu4GSvSREHL7LYRuMj5rp04SfJcvHc9sdcNa0g_g1zTLDhYmbvnn4JOKiwqoSDTlBOnVPFxQC/s200/Arindam.JPG" width="183" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Arindam Ghosh reveals the sportsman behind the scientist.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Interview by Lalit Patnaik<br />
23 October 2010,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i> few days after IISc made it to the Super League stage of the KSCA Metro Shield 2010</i></span></div>
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[Download pdf file of this interview article <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3NUIS8Sjv2SVldFeE4wVTJoM2s" target="_blank">here</a>]</span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Arindam Ghosh, Assistant Professor of Physics, Indian Institute of Science is an accomplished scientist in the field of low-temperature nano-electronics. Amidst all the duties and responsibilities that entail his position, he always manages to find time for sports. The IISc cricket team has had his distinguished services for fourteen years now. Here's an attempt to get to know his story as a researcher who never gave up sports, more so cricket... <a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/play-and-break-thinking-loop.html"><i>read more</i></a></span></div>
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</div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-9930750163296381742010-12-12T19:37:00.000+05:302010-12-12T19:37:57.550+05:30Dominant IISc decimate V.V.Puram<div class="post-header"> </div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">12 December 2010, IISc Gymkhana</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Gr</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ound, Bangalore: </span>A red hot IISc<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>nonchalantly dismissed a clueless V.V.Puram Cricket Club for a paltry 119 and then chased it down with close to 30 overs to spare. This has to count among one of their most comprehensive victories in recent past.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Catch the match report here:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/dominant-iisc-decimate-vvpuram.html">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/dominant-iisc-decimate-vvpuram.html</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></span>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-51413262346843937122010-12-08T23:17:00.000+05:302010-12-08T23:17:46.989+05:30IISc go down fighting<div class="post-header" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">5 December 2010, IISc Gymkhana</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Gr</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ound, Bangalore: </span>In a closely fought 50-overs friendly match against BEL Colony Recreation Club, </span><span>IISc lost by a slender thirteen run margin. It was a match in which IISc tried out quite a few experiments - new opening pairs in bowling as well as batting departments.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Catch the match report here:</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/iisc-go-down-fighting.html"><span style="font-size: small;">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/12/iisc-go-down-fighting.html</span></a> </div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-73795367648743513962010-11-30T22:34:00.000+05:302010-11-30T22:34:28.690+05:30IISc beat Basvangudi CA<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">28 November 2010, IISc Gymkhana</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Gr</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ound, Bangalore: </span>A clinical team effort helped IISc beat Basvangudi Cricket Academy by three wickets in a 50 overs friendly match here.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Catch the match report here:</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/11/iisc-beat-basvangudi-ca.html" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/11/iisc-beat-basvangudi-ca.html</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-55245419317459781202010-11-26T23:52:00.000+05:302010-11-26T23:52:16.689+05:30IISc Cricket Updates: Oct-Nov 2010<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span>super league matches of the </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span>KSCA Metro Shield 2010 are tentatively expected to start from mid-December.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> In the mean while, team IISc played four friendly matches, losing one and winning two, while one match was washed out.<span> The brief scores can be accessed here:</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/11/updates-oct-nov-2010.html">http://cricket-iisc.blogspot.com/2010/11/updates-oct-nov-2010.html</a></span></span>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31845503.post-83354102454528181442010-10-13T23:46:00.017+05:302010-10-14T00:22:12.260+05:30Race of Truth<blockquote><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">... the bicycle is the most energy efficient transportation mode. It is 3 times more efficient than walking, 5 times more efficient than using the train and 15 to 20 times more efficient than driving a car. </span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[Source: <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/quote_of_the_da_9.php">http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/quote_of_the_da_9.php</a>]</span></span></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvw6kpOqtnDRVeB2yTCsfbAzmQXz8yvX_ANSXbuhFPC3NvpReBVjN6NnSzuSxq_m1-jE-16Ebw9y68fRK6YQLmmUQYm9X7wNgB8iGg9-LE50qsMx1DYnlHCPx-esJ0RmZd0Tm/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvw6kpOqtnDRVeB2yTCsfbAzmQXz8yvX_ANSXbuhFPC3NvpReBVjN6NnSzuSxq_m1-jE-16Ebw9y68fRK6YQLmmUQYm9X7wNgB8iGg9-LE50qsMx1DYnlHCPx-esJ0RmZd0Tm/s400/1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Cycling is as healthy for the rider as it is for the planet. What's more, it's enjoyable too. Although I cycle my way around the campus everyday, I'd never taken part in any cycling race or cycling tour. The '<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/iiscraceoftruth/">Race of Truth</a>' organized by the IISc Bikers Network and Students' Council provided the opportunity to change that. It was an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_Time_Trial">individual time-trial</a> format bicycle race. There were separate race categories for single-speed (non-geared) and multi-speed (geared) cycles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">As it was to be an on-road event, it wasn't wise to use my old and faithful Hercules Thriller.</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">In search of a thin-tyre bicycle, I borrowed a friend's humble BSA Photon. I was told that for the 13.5 kilometer long race, 30 minutes is a good time to log. Anyway, I went into the race not to compete but to complete. On my third and final lap, the chain came off the sprocket while I was going up the unforgiving slope of Silver Oak Marg. I tried putting it back in place but ended up only with greased hands. Too bad!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The organizers were generous though. Since it was a breakdown of the bike and not of the biker, they gave me a second chance. But I had to start afresh. This time I borrowed <a href="http://abhijit-kshirsagar.blogspot.com/">Abhijit</a>'s Hero Hawk. Crouching on its drop handles was kind of weird for someone used to cycling upright. But I had a race to complete. And so I did clocking 30 minutes, 27 seconds. Phew! That somehow ended up being the fifth best time in the men/single-speed category. Here's the full list: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/iiscraceoftruth/timings-category-wise">https://sites.google.com/site/iiscraceoftruth/timings-category-wise</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">After the unexpected but encouraging results of my experiments with the Race of Truth, I'm looking forward to the next chance. This time I shall think beyond just completing.</span></div>Lalit Patnaikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13904579821827212188noreply@blogger.com8