Sar Pass

River Parvathy .Photo courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ks2d85

 

I finally got myself to write about the longest trek that i have ever done so far. Thanks to YHAI I was able to have a taste of the mighty Himalayas.The trek is pretty famous and happens throughout April-May every year. I came to know about YHAI through a hardcore trekker colleague of mine.Before deciding to go on trek there were lot of information to be gathered (most of which doesn’t seem that important now). I will try and jot down my experiences about trek in a series of posts.

About the Trek

This is a 9 day trek that happens around May every year starting from a place called Kasol , which is about 4 hours drive from Manali. Manikaran a religious place for Sikhs is just 5 kms from Kasol.The first three days there is pretty much no trek and from fourth day onwards till 11th day you are made to trek for few hours a day surviving on diet which is mainly potato and some more potato after that.Apart from potato diet,crowded tents,first attempts by risk taking trekkers on singing,dancing or almost anything that can be called a performance by the enthusiastic audience and organizers with unimaginable free time , there is breathtaking views of Himalayas and an opportunity to test your endurance a little bit.Booking starts pretty early , I did mine atleast 2 months beforehand.The website has minimal functionality but pretty decent and gets the job done.The charges are nominal (actually dirt cheap ,about 3k) . YHAI site has maps , items to carry and everything else that anybody would care to bother. And there are orkut groups where past trekkers try to impress new ones of fairer sex with information overload.

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Reaching and Surviving the Base Camp – Kasol

I took a flight to delhi followed by a bus to Manali.Delhi-Manali route gets spectacular after about 6 in the morning , we get to see first glimpses of the hills.After spending a day at places where nobody apart from honeymoon couples and shop keepers who were chasing them could be seen we took a cab to YHAI base camp at Kasol. It is a 4 hour hour drive towards Kulu, take a diversion after 3 hours when you see ‘Malana Power plant’.

Kasol  is an interesting place. Some say foreigners outnumber desis here . Most of the restaurants serve Israeli food , I don’t know how foreigners happen to find all lovely places in India. I couldn’t find any ultra commercial hotels or restaurants .The ones present is reasonably priced decent guest houses which is good. I heard somewhere Israelis have the perfect blend of eastern and western looks ,I can’t deny it.

More on other interesting aspects of Kasol in future posts.

 

Kasol. Photo Courtesy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/ks2d85

Tipping Point

Amongst the endless list of books which I start but never complete or take really long time to complete ,Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is an exception. The book is very cohesive .There is just one theme which is the book’s title itself and the entire book is about convincing you that the Tipping Point is more exponential then you ever imagined.

The examples chosen in the book and the way he describes it is really good . The chapters are lengthy and some times gets boring with lots of statistics and everything , but most of it serves the purpose.The things discussed in this book are applicable in day-to-day life for almost every body. Whether it is ‘The power of Context’ ,’Stickiness Factor’ , ‘Law of few’ , you immediately can relate to something /someone that you know. (Btw I consider myself to be in the mavern category).

Some of the things in the book seems subtle but are really ,Tipping Points .Last chapter is what I liked the most.

It seems you have to smoke atleast 4-5 cigarettes a day to get addicted and certain people will just not get addicted because of the way their genes are designed. They are less tolerant to nicotine than normal people. And for majority of people who get addicted (or continues the habit without getting addicted for a prolonged period aka the occasional social smokers ) the first few experiences of smoking was pleasant, And for majority of non smokers or smoke haters it wasn’t .

When anti-Smoking campaign was at its all time high in America , smoking also increased dramatically . It is not hard to figure out why , most of us agree that teenagers and even young adults are likely to disobey specifically when there is a strong advice.The main reason why people was attracted to smoking was not mainly the after effects of smoking itself but the coolness attached to it.Teenagers smoke because the coolest guy , the one doesn’t care about anyone , the one who takes life easily smokes. The anti-Campaign ought to break this association of smoking with the coolness factor rather than preaching the ill effects of smoking which are appealing to may be parent of two , but at that stage its already too late.

Evergreen!

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the
selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity
and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is
truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike
down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to
poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay
my vengeance upon thee. "

sripuram

Priceless :- French Movie

"I would like to .... I would love to..." . unfinished sentences , they make people go crazy.

Nice movie about how someone who doesn't take love seriously finally falls for attraction for a change. World movies channel never fails to provide variety . This one is different than the regular romantic comedy types. Good watch

Search,chat and marry

A google ad seen in orkut, Bharat matrimony is really context driven to put this in orkut !

Hyderabad 10K

I did it again!