Jumping on a Bandwagon?

Or Going by the Picture, Jumping on an Auto-rickshaw more Likely

Social Networking or internet communities or even humble blogs seem to be the buzz word these days going by the atmosphere and news reports we get to see.

I got ranting today because of some of the comments I got recently and one in particular that I got today (all of that I delete promptly).

I like to keep my comment section open because there has been no major reason to close or moderate comments till now. I do get some amount of spam comments but then I delete it after getting the email notification.

There have been one or two days when I got around 16 spam comments from the same person (for hotels in a particular region) and when that happened for the second time my heart sank. I mean that time could have been devoted to a better use but then that was a one off incident. I forgave them because they are small operators and may lack the expertise to handle social media.

Then today I got a junk comment on an old post that was a rant against branding of a particular type. The comment was for a known company (that advertises on big TV channels too) and gave a link to its Facebook fan page (that was not even hyperlinked within the comment box).

I mean why poor me? OK I can see some fit, it is about travel bags, it went like this-

I would like to share an incident,

On my Holiday to Singpore from Mumbai we were Asked to open our Bags at the airport by the Authorities. I was thankfully carrying [------] Bags which has sorted Compartments which made the checking easier and faster.
Got out withing 15 minutes,

That’s the reason i would suggest a [-----] to any traveler.

Its user friendly, easy to handle, light in weight and pretty affordable.

The Link would be of a lot of help [-----]

I am wondering how can a company be so dumb when it comes to social media? Do they pay people to write such dumb comments on wrong kind of posts? Why that particular post? And what happens to this person's (assuming there is such a person) performance appraisal when they find that the inane comments they left were promptly deleted by the blog owners?

I mean that comment screams of being an ad for the company as it had no relevance to the post and they removed all doubt by giving a link to the Facebook fan page. Why can't they hire a good consultant? Better still why can't they think of investing long term into social media and make their own presence.

Some companies may take a long time to figure out the social media and in trying to join the bandwagon, they may not even land on an auto-rickshaw in the process.

Incredible India!

I have set up a Google news alert for India tourism and that is how I came across this article at a website called domain-b.com. It talks about the Ministry of Tourism plans to spend Rs 20 Crores on online advertising. So far so good.
The article on domain-b also talks about the Incredible India Website. I have always been curious to know what kind of traffic does Incredible India gets. Quoting from the article-

The ministry's Incredible India website, incredibleindia.org, has a daily average traffic of around 10 lakh visitors a day, with the ministry continuously innovating the tools on the site.

Have you ever tried searching for information on the Incredible India website? I have tried many times (I academically also try to write on tourism, hence this fascination with Incredible India) always using firefox. I almost always type Taj Mahal as my key words for search. And I do vaguely remember sometimes getting a result but most of the time the search function doesn't work. Below is the screen shot of the result I got this time if I press the arrow near the search key (enlarge the picture to see the exact error).

Search Result on Incredibleindia.org (3/02/2009) for Taj Mahal when you press the 'arrow' sign near the search box on the front page in Firefox

Search Result on Incredibleindia.org (3/02/2009) for Taj Mahal when you press the 'enter' key in Firefox

I get a different page if I just press 'enter' key (screen shot above) but that too gives no results. I mean we are software outsourcing hub to the world. Why can't we have a decent search engine on the Incredible India website that gets more than 10 lakh hits per day!

Lazy Sunday Photo- Sunset on Thames, Oxford, UK

Sunset on Thames, Oxford, UK, June 2008

This was the day when I walked for 4 hours and covered 11km on the Thames River Walk. And that is all I have hiked this year till date. There are tentative plans to trek in Darjeeling along with my younger nephew through YHAI. I hope we are able to pull it off.

Sesha just came back today after trekking to Roopkund (and completed it too!) and has no leaves left. So it has to be just me and my nephew in December. But I am quite tempted.

Crib, Crib and Crib

Fall sick for one week and you end up working so hard for the next two weeks. One week is over but I can see I am going to be extremely busy the next week too. So very little time for new blog posts.

And 2008 has been a lean year travel wise and it continues to be so.

The Fever Saga!

Last week, one evening while playing TT I was telling my colleagues that maybe I need to get my eyesight checked as I am having a headache. I even lost a doubles game that day! I get a peculiar headache when I get fever too and it dawned on me while driving home that I might be having fever. I checked my temperature when I came home and sure enough my temperature was 99.7. I had a class the next day, so I decided I would take it and then see what to do next.

Next day in the morning I had 101 fever and still decided to take the class. By afternoon I was in positively bad shape. In fact, a colleague suggested that I should take the rest of the day off, but there was a meeting at 4.00 pm and I decided that if I had lasted this long, I would last till a little after 4.00 too. Thankfully some sense had prevailed and I cancelled the next days class beforehand.

The next day, I had it. Had to ask Sesha to come back from office so that we could go to the doctor and he promptly came back and took me to a doctor, my fever had reached 103.6 at the night and was hovering around 102.8 to 102.9. The young lady who attended to me said I should go for a complete blood test and that she was worried about my platelet count. Being in Gurgaon it still did not ring a bell. I was told to collect the blood test report after 6.00 pm.

My nephew was kind to us and went to collect my report where everything came as normal, only my fever was not going down. We went to the doctor the next day again and this time there was another young lady doctor who attended me and when I said my fever is not really going down, she said why don't you repeat the platelet count once again, you could be having Dengue (there are a lot of cases of Dengue in Gurgaon as of now). They were kind to me and said they would let me know the result of the blood test within half an hour. We waited for sometime at the hospital itself but then I was getting too tired and we decided to go home.

The first time around I had no idea what platelet count meant but this time I was scared stiff, I in no case wanted to go down with Dengue! Thankfully when we called the hospital they told me my platelet count was still normal and I was not having Dengue. By that time my fever had come down to 100 and it went steadily down from there.

And today I was back at office but no TT as of now. In the meanwhile we had plans of taking off during October 2 to Octboer 9 but now only Sesha will go with his friends. 2008 had not been the year of travel for me!

Fever!

103.6 down to 102.9 so no real blogging for a while. This is the nth time I got fever this year but this one is the worst by far.

Update (17/09/2008)- Thanks a lot for your wishes, my temperature is now a little lower than Radio Mirchi! Maybe I will write a new post tomorrow.

Driving into a Ditch, Literally!

Not this one but one like it with a bigger ditch, roads in the National Capital Region, Delhi

It was after seven and I was driving home from work today, after a game of Table Tennis in the evening.

I don't know how I did it, I went towards the side of the road where it was quite broken. Of course I am used to such roads. I turned the car a little over what was a small mound of mud and the fellow in the next car by my side gave me a really alarming look. But by then I had managed to get my car stuck into the deep hole that was next to the mound of mud and was not visible from my angle.

I tried reversing the car out of it and then tried to drive forward. Both didn't work. I got out of the car and I had panicked a little by then. Then there were two people walking by after their factory shift and I asked them if they had any clue what could I do? They said they can try and push the car out if I switch on the engine and try to reverse the car. Those angles tried and failed. They stood by me and asked for help from others passing by. Two declined and I don't blame then, the car was really in a nasty hole.

Then there were four people coming towards us and I asked them myself. They gave me an ugly glance (stupid female driver and all that, can't even see where she is driving, she deserves to be in a hole and we poor folks have to get our hands dirty now) but agreed to try. Once again I started the engine and tried to reverse the car. With six people trying and the car being a light Maruti 800 it came out of the hole!

I thanked them a lot and the crowd moved on. The two men who had stopped originally, I tried to give then some money for all their trouble but they just waved me off!

Note to self- don't get yourself into a hole in the first place.

Feels Like Long Time No Travel!

China Peak, Nainital, Uttrakhand

Sesha refuses to budge for a short weekend trip. I can see the new semester starting without me traveling anywhere (OK, UK was there but the memories are already fading). I have been appealing to my nephew to come along reminding the fun we had on the Nainital trip together. He says yes, let me see if I can pull this one off. I think the trick is not to think too much and just head out somewhere, even if it is not an eye popping destination. After all, I can't let a new semester begin before heading out somewhere!

Make a Suggestion

(Picture Taken at Spitok, Ladakh)

In an ideal world this summer I would like to visit Ladakh again.

Look at the picture at the left, can you blame me if I yearn to be there again?

But when all I can manage is two to three days of leave, tell me where should I go?

I do not wish to take a flight, ideal journey would be by bus (but willing to take a train too) and I know I can't reach much further than Rishikesh or something like that, give my time frame.

So if you know of any places around that (I have already been to Rajaji National Park) region or anything else, do let me know.

I definitely need to travel and soon.

Or else my head will burst.

And 'death by grading' is over, finally.

A Picture Every Other Day- Spiti Again

Magnificent Spiti- Demul to Lahlung

I need some inspiration as it is death by grading till this weekend. Will catch up with the blog world as soon I am through.

Bhulla Tal, Lansdowne Uttrakhand

Bhulla Tal, Lansdowne, Uttrakhand

This summer is the most unpromising in terms of travel (though it looks quite promising work wise, I am really trying hard not to complain, no really I am trying). So, on many days, I end up looking at the old pictures and drool.

When we actually visited the Bhulla Tal in Lansdowne we were not really impressed. The lake is small, and all those toy boats looked, umm, not my kind of a place (though let me add that this lake has actually been dug by army personnel and has not formed due to nature). My kind of a place is Prashar Lake or Pangong Lake.

But ask me now, any kind of lake will do as long as it has hills in the backdrop. And if it is at the high altitude all the more better! I know I have been cribbing a lot these days about the lack of travel but then in the last five years it has never happened. So, just one or two posts more and I will settle down but the question is to writing down what?

Why Do We Run to the Mountains?

Mountains on the Kuari Pass Trek, Uttrakhand

At the first opportunity, Sesha and I head to the mountains. And winters are no exception. Recently it was my husband's birthday and hesulks and cribs if taken through the restaurant and movie routine. However, as his birthday came squarely in the middle of the week there was no way we could travel. So, this time around it had to be the restaurant and movie routine or nothing. As soon as we entered one of numerous malls that have mushroomed in Gurgaon, he told me, "You know what? I never feel relaxed at this place." And by this place he meant malls in general. I had to agree with him. I think that is why we run to the hills, it is very different there, quiet, peaceful and relaxing.

One of these days, a colleague of mine was also joking, "Why do you have to walk all day to feel relaxed, I mean I need all the creature comforts to have a good vacation." I agree, on a trek creature comforts are actually missing but then that is the only time I when I try to think about things that are of earth shattering importance to me :) With a big flat rock and miles of serenity I manage to think better, in fact that is the only time I manage to think and gain some perspective :) That is another reason why I long for treks and mountains.

And this is part nostalgia and part crib too, as I said after five long years it has happened that I am not sure if I am trekking this summer or not. I better manage it somehow or I will die with envy when others come back from some trek and show me the pictures.

Hardly a Week and the Memories of Spiti are Already Fading

View from Dhankar, Spiti, India

I know life has treated me really kindly and I really have no right to crib but one week into the plains and all these beautiful memories of Spiti have already started to fade, sigh... I realized it with a start today when I was worrying about trifles, like a perceived slight when probably none was intended, a little of this and a little of that. And how easy it is to forget that just a week before I was in the paradise!

More on Spiti

Pictures from Spiti

Practical Information about Home Stay Trek in Spiti

Full of Stones or so it Seems Sometimes!

We encountered this stone filled track on the Kuari Pass trek. Why does it seem to resemble life at certain point? I know, I know, I have no right to crib. But just felt like it.

Lunchtime Ritual

I came to office today determined to do a lot of work. But as soon as I occupied my chair I don't know what happened. I was getting very restless. Lunchtime came and I had a nice chat with my colleagues. I have a lunchtime ritual. After lunch, I usually walk just outside the premises and talk for a while on the phone. Invariably, it is my sister I chat with. She always gives me a patient ear. I was cribbing to her: "I do not feel like working, I wonder what is wrong with me. If I do some work today I will not have to die to complete everything tomorrow," and on and on like that. She was making all the soothing noises at the other end.

While talking to her a man walks nearby. I watch quitely (still talking on the phone) standing amidst cars, security guards and tall glass buildings just a few feet away, housing some big name software companies. His face is almost expressionless, eyes vacant. He goes to the edge and rummages through the kachra (litter thrown around) and picks up an empty box that must have contained some takeaway meal. Puts it in the chadar (sheet) on his shoulder and face still expressionless, he moves on.

And here I was leaning on a car, having this mobile phone in my hand, wearing appropriately warm clothes, with lunch in my stomach, complaining about god knows what! It is not that I have seen this for the first time (or the last) but some days it bothers you, gets on your nerves and makes you feel more helpless than some other days, when you just shrug it off.

Before I end this post, found (via Desipundit and they want people to link this from their blogs, the least that I can do) a post by Anuradha of Projectwhy about an ashram in Ghaziabad that was abusing children.

The Fourth Umpire: Fair and Ugly No More

I was in Bangalore for the last few days. I caught some cricket as the TV would be on all the time. No, this post is not really about cricket. This is about ‘Fair and Ugly err Lovely’ Fourth Umpire. As I saw the face of Charu Sharma and Srikant, I was waiting for the ‘fair and lovely’ and incredibly dumb about cricket, Roshini Chopra. My, I almost fell out of the chair! I saw a woman who looked very different from Mandira and Roshini types. I was waiting for her to open her mouth but somehow I never got around seeing her speak that day.

But now I am back home and my nephews put the TV to DD sport and I saw that dame again on the occasion of today’s Ahmedabad One Day Match between India and Sri Lanka. My curiosity was piqued and I started asking my nephews about her name. They told me she is a former Indian cricket team member and her name is Anjum something. Well, I searched the net and found her name and photo and she is Anjum Chopra and she is not so fair for a lovely change. And she is such a breath of fresh air on ‘Fair and Ugly’ Fourth Umpire.

I wonder how DD Sports managed to get her on board with a sponsorship from ‘Fair and Ugly!’ After all, according to the ad they used to show, the prerequisite for being on Fourth Umpire kind of shows was fair skin (and if you do not have it like me, you were doomed unless you acquired it by the use of this magic cream).

Now in a land obsessed with fair skin in women (see any Indian matrimonial, and it will be full of men seeking fair women) I find Anjum’s presence so refreshing and somewhat surprising too. I find Anjum charming in her own way and when she speaks about cricket, you feel like listening to her. But I wonder how this good sense prevailed over in this show?

As, I was about to complete this post I saw a new ‘Fair and Ugly’ ad, which shows a newly wed dark woman being shouted at by her husband and after she uses this ‘Ugly’ cream she becomes fair and her husband is completely bowled over by her. I find this ad so offensive and ugly.

Now that some good sense has prevailed over the Fourth Umpire Show, I wish they would chuck their sponsors. Or better still, those idiot sponsors may quit themselves now that they do not have their ugly mentality reflected on the show.

I also wonder what do men folk have to say about Fair and Handsom, a recently launched fairness cream for men. My dad (who is 63) says he never imagined that he would see in his lifetime water sold in bottles and a fairness product for men!

5 Reasons why I do not Consider Cricket True Sport

5. David Boon, Inzamam-ul Haq, ever expanding Virender Sehwag, and I can’t remember a similar Sri Lankan player’s name. Now look at the king of games, soccer and name a similar player who is that fat!

4. You switch on the TV to watch a test series and where are all the players? They have gone to have lunch! Or tea (but I wonder if the tradition still alive?). Now in which other game this happens that players have gone for lunch? It is more effective in Hindi, as a friend used to say “Arre ye players kahan gaye? Chai peene gaye hain!”

3. Have you seen any other game where players wear sweaters and play? Now if you want to compare with golf or carom, go ahead I have no problems. Look again at soccer and see, rain or snow players are still without sweaters!

2. Now I have not seen too many other sports where players black goggles and play or even keep black goggles on their caps and play! Why are black goggles so essential for cricket?

1. Which other sports gathers 12 to 15 teams and calls the event world cup? (das barah logon ko bator kar khel lete hain aur kahte hain world cup!) And which other country goes in a tizzy over it like we do?

You can also see the fun I am having at Indiamike

http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?p=155406#post155406

More reasons why I ranted like this? Have a look at this post. Mahendra Singh Dhoni gets lakhs and lakhs for 100 odd runs and Kuldeep (bus driver of the Delhi blast scene) gest 2 lakhs for risking his life. What are our priorities?

http://riteshm.blogspot.com/2005/11/hero.html

Off the Beaten Track

My husband has a penchant for walking on any Indian mountain trail that diverts from the main road. I am usually given two options- either to walk with him or wait for him in the hotel room.

Otherwise he is a pretty sane person. But as soon as he sees a mountain trail in the Himalayas all logic deserts him. Till date I have always dragged my feet along with him.

We were walking in Dalhousie (India) once at the forest reserve Kala Top. He spotted a dirt road and wanted to follow it. Thankfully, a forest reserve officer came to my rescue. He told us we cannot go there without a guide. We returned back to our hotel. But the respite proved to be short lived. Next day, my husband found a guide and we marched about 12 kilometers through forest from Kala Top to Khajjiyar. No doubt Khajjiyar is very beautiful but it can also be reached by bus or taxi from Dalhousie or Kala Top in less than half an hour. But not when my husband is around.

Next time it happened when we were walking around Renuka Lake near Nahan. Again, he saw a dirt road leading to a Parashuram Temple ahead at 10 kilometers. Again we took that road after a feeble attempt on my part to protest. After 8 kilometers uphill, I was completely spent. My husband of course saw the temple, which anyway was just an excuse. We did not find any lunch on the way. So I logged a total of 16 kilometer that day on an empty stomach. I had the best tasting Maggi noodles and omelet that evening once we came back to our hotel.

It happened at to me Chail and Almora too. The only time my husband admitted defeat was at Jageshwar when I started feeling giddy and refused to move an inch. Little wonder then, that soon after we have graduated to full time trekking.

My Five Pet Travel Peeves

Peace and Quiet (picture added in August 2009)

For me travel is a form of escape, from my daily routine and from my stupid job. If I am trekking then I do not carry a mirror, it is an escape from my own image in the mirror.

5. People who approach scenic places in their over speeding cars with blaring music. Have mercy on me, I have been trying exactly to escape it by coming to such a far away place. OK, the car is required but can't I be spared the latest bhangra craze?

4. People who organize parties with loud music till wee hours of night in peaceful places otherwise devoid of any night life. I wish they would stay away from sleepy towns.

3. People who shout their lungs out in restaurants in India, mostly telling everyone how good their last European vacation was. Do us a favor and go there again instead of coming to below your dignity Indian holiday.

2. People who assume I am getting bored because I am sitting quietly and gazing at nothing in particular. Then they offer me to join their musical chair or some such stupid game. Someone once even said "poor girl, how morose she looks," when in fact I was enjoying the sight of a river and listening to so many birds chirping.

1. People who throw cans, plastic, rappers and tin foils all over the place. They completely freak me out and leave me seething with rage.