Friday, October 14, 2005
Some Days Free From Work
Panchami NightThis year the puja being one day short than usual (Ashtami and Navami on the same day), Panchami was as eventful as any other day. Normally the events start shashti evening.
At 6pm, I was at FabIndia in GK 1 buying a kurta. Got a call from a friend of mine who was there at CR Park. A runtime plan was made and I was there at CR Park at 730. After being there for an hour and visiting some of the 'pandals', started for home where a cocktail party was waiting for me.
Reached home. Had screwdriver and bloody mary.
Shashti Night
Had to attend a rock show. Reached Decibel in Hotel Samrat. Rocktoberfest was organised featuring Themclones, Joint Family and the winner of the GIR 2005, the band from Chennai called No Idea. Lovely GIG. Joint family started with Fear Factory and they played stuff by Korn, Pantera etc.
Then came Themclones. It was their 4th show that I was witnessing.. First time indoor. I have heard almost all their songs in their prior performances but still they had put up a great show and it was great to see my friend headbanging to Themclones standing right in the front. They played Disturbed, RATM and some of their lovely originals like 'Awaken' and 'In the name of God'. Their performance also featured Rollin by Limp Bizkit. It was sung beautifully by the lead singers of Themclones, Joint Family and the ex-Clones singer. We had to leave early so we missed No Idea (anyway I was not in a state to listen to the slow rock that they play.)
Had to attend a rock show. Reached Decibel in Hotel Samrat. Rocktoberfest was organised featuring Themclones, Joint Family and the winner of the GIR 2005, the band from Chennai called No Idea. Lovely GIG. Joint family started with Fear Factory and they played stuff by Korn, Pantera etc.
Then came Themclones. It was their 4th show that I was witnessing.. First time indoor. I have heard almost all their songs in their prior performances but still they had put up a great show and it was great to see my friend headbanging to Themclones standing right in the front. They played Disturbed, RATM and some of their lovely originals like 'Awaken' and 'In the name of God'. Their performance also featured Rollin by Limp Bizkit. It was sung beautifully by the lead singers of Themclones, Joint Family and the ex-Clones singer. We had to leave early so we missed No Idea (anyway I was not in a state to listen to the slow rock that they play.)
Pic: Themclones
Saptami
Met friends at Gole Market DIZ Area Puja Pandal.. Gave 'anjali', had 'prasad' and headed for New Delhi Kali Badi. Met some more friends there. Stayed there till 130 pm and left for CR Park. Were in a hurry as my friend had to leave for home early. Reached Shib Mandir in almost no time thanks to the cooperative traffic at that time of the day. Seeing a line of atleast 500 people for the 'Bhog' was too much to take but the hope of finding one of my friend's dad who is in the Bhog Committee kept us alive. Being optimistic is not always bad. We found him and he arranged the bhog for us.
Post bhog, we roamed around CR Park to have a look at the rest of the pandals. Nothing worth mentioning happened after that.
Ashtami/NavamI
Met friends at Gole Market DIZ Area Puja Pandal.. Gave 'anjali', had 'prasad' and headed for New Delhi Kali Badi. Met some more friends there. Stayed there till 130 pm and left for CR Park. Were in a hurry as my friend had to leave for home early. Reached Shib Mandir in almost no time thanks to the cooperative traffic at that time of the day. Seeing a line of atleast 500 people for the 'Bhog' was too much to take but the hope of finding one of my friend's dad who is in the Bhog Committee kept us alive. Being optimistic is not always bad. We found him and he arranged the bhog for us.
Post bhog, we roamed around CR Park to have a look at the rest of the pandals. Nothing worth mentioning happened after that.
Ashtami/NavamIIt had to be a long day considering it to be the last day of the puja and the aggregation of 2 days into one. Gave anjali at 11. Visited some nearby pandals and conserved energy for the evening and the night. We had a planned a tour of the major pujas in Delhi.
We started at 730 and headed towards India Gate where we had to meet some people. Reached there and drove around India Gate for parking for atleast 15 minutes. Met them, had food there. Mouth watering chilly chicken and Naan.
Started from there and had a quick view of the Minto Road Puja. From there we headed for South Delhi, starting with CR Park. We could sense the crowd as soon as we entered the vicinity of CR Park. Jams all over the place. I knew an alternative route so we saved a lot of time. But it wasn't over. The roads around all the pandals were jammed with people all over. Police controlled queues were there for entering any of the pandals and none of the queues had less than 150-200 people. We managed to enter Mela Ground Puja after walking for 20 minutes. After that we headed towards Shiv Mandir. Walked for 15 minutes to find another queue whose end wasn't visible. That was too much for us. We headed for home. On the way stopped by at South Delhi Kali Badi and Sarojini Nagar Puja Pandals. We reached back our area around 1 am.
Vijaya Dashami
Reached my pandal at 1130. Process of taking Goddess Durga
for immersion had already started. She had to be taken to Nigambodh Ghat near ISBT. The procession started and after walking some distance, I started back for home.
Pic : Visarjan Ceremony from the Pandal.
Note : Use of the photographs without permission is prohibited.
We started at 730 and headed towards India Gate where we had to meet some people. Reached there and drove around India Gate for parking for atleast 15 minutes. Met them, had food there. Mouth watering chilly chicken and Naan.
Started from there and had a quick view of the Minto Road Puja. From there we headed for South Delhi, starting with CR Park. We could sense the crowd as soon as we entered the vicinity of CR Park. Jams all over the place. I knew an alternative route so we saved a lot of time. But it wasn't over. The roads around all the pandals were jammed with people all over. Police controlled queues were there for entering any of the pandals and none of the queues had less than 150-200 people. We managed to enter Mela Ground Puja after walking for 20 minutes. After that we headed towards Shiv Mandir. Walked for 15 minutes to find another queue whose end wasn't visible. That was too much for us. We headed for home. On the way stopped by at South Delhi Kali Badi and Sarojini Nagar Puja Pandals. We reached back our area around 1 am.
Vijaya Dashami
Reached my pandal at 1130. Process of taking Goddess Durga
for immersion had already started. She had to be taken to Nigambodh Ghat near ISBT. The procession started and after walking some distance, I started back for home.Pic : Visarjan Ceremony from the Pandal.
Note : Use of the photographs without permission is prohibited.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Wanna Play a New Game ?
This is absolutely mindblowing stuff. Am not giving my experts comments on this for the moment :) Its only a matter of time and awareness; this concept will spread like wildfire.. for sure...
CASH IN ON HIDDEN WORLD OF GEOCACHERS
By Anubha Sawhney/TNN
New Delhi: Ever been to Manali? Did you know there's a treasure watiting to be found under a large boulder in a park there? Don't believe us? Check out geocachers Minnesota Dave's post on the Internet. A series of elaborate instructions later, he tells you "The cache is hidden behind a couple of breadloaf-sized rocks that you'll have to move."
Enter the hi-tech world of geocaching ("geocashing"). This most advanced form of treasure hunt is a sport that's gaining popularity worldwide. Geocashing is an entertaining game for GPS (Global Positioning System) users where they become the search engine. The idea is to go looking for items that individuals and groups have set up called 'caches' which are located all over the world.
Geocachers seek out hidden treasures utilising GPS coordinates posted on the Internet by those hiding the cache. Using a GPS unit, they then trek out into the backwoods or urban jungles to find the hiding spot of the cache.
The global indian geocaching community has been treasure hunting with a frenzy. Says Prashant Solanki, a marketing executive in Montreal, "This growing outdoor sport has a simple set of rules, making it easy for anyone to play. The challenging part is finding the cache. Some caches have even been planted on mountainsides and underwater."
Here's how it works:Once you have a GPS unit, you need to go online to start finding cache locations or report a cache that you have created. The location of a cache is then given in coordinates of latitude and longitude, revealing caches in that particular area. Several geocaching web sites and clubs have sprouted on the Internet.( A popular geocashing site reveals that right now there are 203768 active caches in 218 countries across the globe.)After you get the coordinates online and enter them into your GPS, you're ready to get started on your adventure!
Hooked onto geocashing in a big way, Bijoy Mathew is waiting to come back to India to check out the caches here. "I've just located the coordinates to about 23 caches in India. I must check them out when I come for vacation." he says from Mississipi.
Bijoy is particularly interested in a cache in Bangalore, the post for which reads like this: "This cache is within walking distance of the centre of the action(MG Road & Brigade Road).The cache is in a tree near the path. be sure to cover the cache deep and well when finished. Otherwise it will be found and plundered for sure."
And what are the treasures you're likely to find? "A cache typically has a waterproof container discreetly placed within the local terrain. The container will include a logbook and any number of more and less valuable items such as toys, books, money, jewellery, trinkets....," explains Santosh Kumar, software engineer in New York.
Wanna be a geocacher? You must follow these basic rules: fill out the logbook, take something out of the cache, put something in the cache and return the cache to the exact position and condition in which it was found.
The location of a cache is the most important part of the treasure hunt." When hiding a cache, you can be as creative as you want to be," Santosh says. "A cache can be located just about anywhere. Caches may be located in the country or cities, both above and below ground, inside and outside buildings. The placement of a cache may be quite challenging to find even with the accuracy of a GPS."
