Digital Arsenal

Yes. I just got Leh'd. If anyone ever tells you that Ladakh's cold desert is amazing or Kashmir Greenery and Landscapes are breathtaking, please don’t believe them. SEE IT ON YOUR OWN!!

Its hard to come back to normal life after having an out of the world experience traveling close to 1500 KMs on road and 1000 on air. The route we took was Delhi - Manali - Leh - Khardungla - Pangong Tso - Sonamarg - Srinagar - Delhi.

It all started in May when a friend of mine Dipayan from Mumbai suggested that Leh is a good option for a long trip (Note: In Indian software industry any vacation more than 3 leaves is considered a long leave; I had to take 5 added to 3 weekends and 2 holidays making it a 10 day trip, which is really long). The first plan was in June but we were just 2 people who were ready at that time. 2 more friends of mine showed interest if we were ready to postpone it to June end or early July. We had to agree but unfortunately due to project pressure and unavailability of leave, plan got spoiled again. Finally near the end of June, we decided that August mid is the time where this trip can be done without taking many leaves. 4 people - 3 from Delhi Region and 1 from Mumbai. A fortnight before the trip, Dipayan backed out (He said he is still trying but I understood :)) I was so fu**in looking forward to the trip but was just left with 2 friends - Sudhish and Sudhanshu. A trip like this needed at least 4 people so that the cost can be shared effectively so we started searching for travel partners online. In the meanwhile over a glass of beer, I found another friend Amit, who was interested and he was pretty sure that his childhood friend Varun would also be interested. He confirmed two days later and we got 5 Volvo Bus tickets to Manali. Just a week before scheduled departure date, Sudhanshu found out that he is a critical resource for his project and 5 days of leave is a lot to take. He was denied the vacation. We felt terribly bad and were thinking whether to continue it or not but now more people were involved and there was no looking back.
Few days before while driving back home one day with my friend Ashish, he told me that his plan for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was ruined due to the heavy rains and now he has his leaves approved but no plans at all. I am sure I don’t need to tell you what the consequence of this conversation was.

August 12, 2006 – Me waiting for Ashish, Sudhish, Amit and Varun in front of the Shivaji Stadium entrance of the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station. THE PLAN IS ON!!

Mesmerizing Pangong Tso, 1/3rd in India and 2/3rd in China

Some Photographic excellence at Pangong Tso Lake.

Thikse Gompa(Monastery)

Road after Chang La pass on the Leh-Pangong Tso route

Khardung La, Highest Motorable Pass in the World

Snow at Khardung La

Spithuk Monastery

Objects are closer than they appear

Magical Moment

More Plains on the Manali-Leh Highway

View from our tents in Keylong

Mirror mirror on the wall...

Start of the Ladakh and end of greenery

Another view of the More plains

# posted by Unknown : 12:04 AM  5 comments

Anyone who had foreseen such a dramatic World Cup final must have hidden superpowers! Congratulations to Italy for playing amazing football all throughout the knockout stage and reaching the Glory. They had a shaky start but came out brilliantly as each match progressed. The Azzuris won but this post of mine is dedicated to the God of Modern Football, Zinedine Zidane.

One moment of Anger and what could have been the best farewell for the legend turned out to be the Worst moment of his life.

Yes Zidane has disappointed me, his fans and all the lovers of the World’s most widely followed sport. Maybe Luis Figo escaped a similar act in the Portugal - Holland match but that is no way an excuse for his Head Butt right in the center of the chest of Marco Materazzi. I feel bad for him Zizou.. Too Bad actually. Right from the day France's Knock Out matches started, fans was closely following every Zizou move on the field which probably could have been his last if France bowed out but his Sheer Brilliance backed up with some highly experienced defense kept France in. Then comes July 9, 2006, the night which surely is the Last time people would see Zidane play and though almost everyone backing up Italy by mind, by heart wanted France to win simply to give Zizou a dream farewell. Arrives the 111th minute of the game, the last Red Card of the Germany World Cup 2006 and Zidane is 'sent off' from his 105 match footballing career. Sad but so true. I am pretty sure, by the time the match ended even the Italians would have had thought of asking the officials to get him back to thank him for being an ambassador of football. But rules and rules. Anger ate England when Rooney was sent off and same thing happened in the World Grand Finale. I won’t say that was the only reason France lost since Trezeguet anyways would have taken the kick but yes if that incident wouldn’t have happened Zidane might have slipped in a header or maybe a lethal pass to create the Winner in the last ten minutes of the match. Without the leader, France went haywire and was playing just to take the game to spot kicks.

The one moment of the match which surely changed the result of the game was Zizou's towering header of the Sagnol cross magically kept away by Buffon. That header reminded me of the 1998 France World cup when Zidane was at his very best. It was fast and accurate but Buffon just won’t let any ball go in. The ball has passed him twice this World cup, an own goal and a spot kick.

My Italian player of the Match would be Andrea Pirlo. He was simply outstanding with his crosses and passes. He marshaled the midfield beautifully and almost scored a goal of the free kick. He is really a master of delivering the ball to set pieces. The corner kick he took which actually resulted in Italy's only goal was one of the best corners I have ever seen.

For the French side Malouda was exceptionally good and his left flank sprints caused major panic in the Italian defense. The foul on him resulted in France’s only goal. The Zidane, Henry, Ribery and Malouda quartet had amazing synchronization.

The last thing I would want to say to the World is to forget Zidane's Last act and remember him for what he has done in the field for 104 matches and 110 minutes.

Peace.

Some Excerpts from BBC

“When one has to put up with what Zidane had to and the referee doesn't do anything, one understands. You can't excuse it, but you can understand it." – Domenech

Domenech said that Zidane regretted what had happened but refused to say if he had apologized.
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"To see him finish his career in this way is sad," said Domenech. "He has had a great career and a great World Cup.”
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It was the fourth and fifth officials looking at the video at the edge of the pitch.
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"We did not do anything. They saw it and they called the attention of the referee.
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Materazzi was not acting. He took a blow and he was hurt."

# posted by Unknown : 10:21 PM  6 comments

How many witnessed this game of Rummy on Sunday at the Frankenstadion Football field, Nuremberg? I did.. and guess who was dealing the cards. It was none other than the Russian referee Valentin Ivanov officiating the Pre Quarter final knockout tie between Portugal and Netherlands. Thought the referee did some partiality on Portugal's side by dealing them lesser cards, overall the match was fun. :) The match consisted of 25 fouls, 16 Yellow Cards and 4 Red Cards.

Despite the flurry of Yellow Cards and dismissals of Portuguese midfielders Costinha and Deco plus Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz and midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst, it was a contest of high-quality and much attacking play and Portugal booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a bruising and bad-tempered 1-0 win over the Netherlands.

Now it would be very difficult for Portugal to overcome England in the Quarter finals without Deco and Costinha but still I will put my bet on them.

My prediction for the last phase (I will delete this post, if this doesn’t happen.. :D)

Germany Vs Italy

Portugal Vs Brazil

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Germany Vs Brazil

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V

SAMBA DANCE AT BERLIN :)))

# posted by Unknown : 9:59 PM  8 comments

Da Vinci Code is an amazing movie and I don’t agree with the ratings and reviews its getting in India and abroad. The top 2 Indian English news papers have given it ratings of 3 and 3.5 on a 5 scale. IMDB has given it 6.5 on a 10. I suggest people not to go for the movie with a preconceived notion that it would be a replica of the Dan Brown bestseller. You would end up finding out nooks through out the movie. People who haven’t read the book have an upper edge watching the movie since they will be experiencing the suspense which unfolds at the end. On the contrary they might have a tough time following the movie and the facts properly.

My 'Things to watch for in Da Vinci Code' would have on top, Sophie Neveu; Audrey Tautou. I think she is one of the most gorgeous actresses on screen today! She's a true, natural beauty, nothing vulgar about her. And I don't think anyone could have filled the role as well as she did, she's almost exactly how I pictured Sophie Neveu to be when I read the book a year or so ago. I haven’t heard about her before the promos of this movie were aired. After watching the movie I thought of gaining some insight into this actress on the WWW. I got hold of some amazing pics. As Sir Leigh Teabing said, she indeed has an amazing smile.

Tom Hanks no doubt was brilliant again. It wont be a surprise for me if he walks with the Oscar this year again.

# posted by Unknown : 1:31 PM  1 comments

My opinion is that the Gandhi’s' present generation don’t deserve what they r getting ... not a single one of them ... Sonia doesn’t have any political achievements ... she is important to these empty headed congress zealots because ... according to them ... she is the only link to Jawahar - Indira - Rajiv ... and somehow by bear beating the overused but shallow name of "Gandhi" ...they can get the coveted seat of power...

Smt. Sonia Gandhi has emerged as more than the President of the Congress Party. Today she represents the hopes of millions of Indians reeling under the anti-national, anti-poor and unconstitutional politics of the BJP. In the past five years, Smt. Sonia Gandhiji has joined the ranks of our earlier statesman like Smt. Indira Gandhiji and Shri Rajiv Gandhi. She has toured the length and breath of this country and through her accessibility to the masses, and their response to her, proved that she not only lives up to the traditions of the Gandhi family but continues them so that, under her leadership, the Congress Party can once again claim its place as the leading political party of our country.

I don’t know if u remember properly but Indira died in Sonia's arms and she was killed by her own bodyguard who was a Sikh and after that anti-Congress people floated the news that Congress is anti-Sikh. That same Sonia Gandhi left her post to a Sikh just because she found him more suitable for the post and that she had other responsibilities. She didn’t back out because our 'own' saffron clad Sushma Swaraj said that she will commit suicide if the 'firang' becomes the PM.

If this is not a political achievement, i want to ask u the definition of political achievement.

Secondly I don’t know how u believe the fact that people would back Sonia and congress 'solely' because of their history !!

If you think that renunciating the seat of PM is her sacrifice ... I think it is a political price she has paid so that her children continue to enjoy the fruits of power ... till eternity ... and who wont accept that Dr. MM Singh is nothing more than a puppet PM ... the actual power still resides in 10 race course ...

Dev i want to know what 'fruits of power' are being enjoyed by Rahul/Priyanka ?
I don’t accept the fact that you are calling the most educated PM in the world today, a puppet PM. He has a better educational background than Amartya Sen. :)... If you can say this, its not you speaking, this is a voice of a BJP supporter. If consulting your party President (Sonia) is being a puppet, my dear Dev, its time u start thinking from a neutral point of view while arguing on these points.

So Ari ... Sonia may be a good wife and a gr8 mother to her children ... but sorry ... if u think winning parliamentary seats in the would be banana republic which India is going to become sooner if people of this country (me including) don’t wake up ... is an achievement ... my friend give it a thought once again ...

Yes Dev I think wining parliamentary seats is an achievement. You cannot be a hypocrit in calling India the largest democracy and at the same time not going with the people when they choose Congress to be the ruling party. Sonia was chosen by the House of Commons rather than the House of Lords (Rajya Sabha) which many people refer to as a backdoor entry. This list includes Late Shri Pramod Mahajan, Pranab Mukherjee.. and a lot of them..

Regarding India going to be a banana republic it’s solely your point of view. India is waking up. Just that we are expecting it to wake too fast which unfortunately is not possible.

And all of these MPs ...I m so happy that u chose MP as a word to address them ... coz they r not our leaders ... but power hungry sycophants ...

Very true but whom can u take out of the list??

Lastly i would not even consider our beloved Atalji as even a sane person who can have the 'guts' to speak against the people who brought us our independence.

# posted by Unknown : 4:28 PM  88 comments