Day2 - 17 May 2008- Haridwar and Rishikesh

Having had a good night's rest, and keen to cover as much ground as possible within the limited time at our disposal, we set off at 7.45 AM in the direction of Rishikesh. Ever since I read ( and re-read) books on and by the Himalayan Master,Swami Rama, I had nursed a hope of staying at the Ashram founded by him (called Sadhana Mandir) at Ram nagar, a few kilometers away from Rishikesh. So, that became our first stop for the day.

Away from the hustle and bustle of Rishikesh town, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, Sadhana Mandir is located on the banks of the holy river, Ganga or the Ganges. Surrounded by beautiful flowering plants, mango trees and a lotus pond, a quiet and serene atmosphere pervades over the ashram. The ashram totally lived up to my expectations!

It has about 30 guest rooms which open out to the view of a wide and calm River Ganga flowing along at its own sweet pace. A tarred road on a tank bund separates the Ashram buildings from the River. Across the river , can be seen dense jungles and small hillocks.

I chatted briefly with the manager Mr. KP Singh, a retired police officer, and found that the room rent was so inexpensive! Just Rs. 200 per day incl of food ! WOW ! I pledged then and there that I would return and spend more time at the Ashram some day.

After spending about a half hour inside the premises and walking by the peaceful bank of the ganges, listening to the chirping of exotic birds and other sounds of nature, we proceeded towards Ram Jhula near the town of Rishikesh. Ram Jhula is a modern and picturesque suspension bridge, with Himalayan foothills in the backdrop. It has room for only foot traffic and in India that includes feet of cattle, so, one has to be careful while walking ! The nearby Laxman Jhula is an older bridge more famous for being the location where some of the well known Hindi movies have been shot. There are several “touristy” ashrams which one can visit along the banks of the river to learn Yoga and meditation. For the adventurous, there is the possibility of experiencing river rafting on the Ganges from the several adventure sports companies located upstream from Rishikesh. One could spend endless hours shopping for stones, gems, necklaces, although it is better to have a guide with you if you want genuine stuff. (Yes, one could get ripped off in holy places too !)

A few pictures later, realising that the dull roaring sound was not from the river below but from my stomach, we broke fast at a very famouseatery called 'Chotiwalla's' The name roughly translates into "Man with a tuft of hair like an antenna". I was amazed at the variety of cuisines this joint had- Chinese, Gujarati, Punjabi, South Indian, you name it...Apparently, It is an ISO 9000 certified eatery. Now, thats food for some thought, eh?? :-)

A garishly made up actor sits outside the eatery dressed as a Chotiwala and serves as an excellent advertisement to get hungry tourists inside. Like everyone else, we posed for pictures with him.

As I watched the River Ganga from high up on the multi storied Tryambakeshwar temple, I was struck by a thought. The range of activities that people perform on Gangaji is amazing. They wash themselves in it, immerse the ashes of the dead, they use it for white water rafting ; and some rather unmentionable activities as well. And Yet, the mighty river moves on- Undaunted and unperturbed- almost challenging man to try and disturb her.

Like at Haridwar, religious tourism reaches a Zenith at Rishikesh. Spirituality and religion are for sale everywhere - from sacred beads to ‘OM’ emblazoned T-shirts to books and CDs on Yoga and meditation, gemstones and jewellery. There is no dearth of buyers and business is booming. The ubiquitous ‘foreign’ tourists in search of Nirvana are a big help in improving the economy of the area! Most of them are very “clued in”- totally at ease with the local culture, cuisine and incredibly, even the sometimes annoyingly hot weather. You can see them everywhere - typically in grungy dresses with Indian spiritual motifs, staying at Ashrams, eating local cuisine, shopping, even bargaining for goods ! (Not something one could do in a western mall ! )
It really made me sit up and think – how a lot of educated Indians aspire to ‘Go West’ to get rich and have it all and here you can see ‘the westerners’ leaving the material comforts of their homes in the distant west and thoroughly enjoying their quest for Nirvana in places like Rishikesh !

Coming back to the Journey, we proceeded towards our next halt of the temple called Neelkanth Mahadev. This is where lord Shiva is said to have swallowed poison and locked it in hes throat , in order to save Humanity from its effects. Due to the poison, His throat turned Blue , hence the name Neel Kanth (BlueThroat) . Frankly, I did not find it different from any other crowded temple. But the road to and from the shrine had many interesting scenic spots along the way!

On the way back to Haridwar, stopped for lunch at Raiwalla at Midway resorts. Had a rather overpriced lunch there and set out for the Chandi Devi temple at Haridwar. The temple is on a hill overlooking Haridwar and can be reached via a ropeway, Since I had not used the ropeway in India at all, I was looking forward to the opportunity. A short ride of 5 minutes later (costing Rs 80 per person for a 2 way ride. Totally worth it... considering the views en route and the utter silence of the hills as the ropeway ascends ...!

Back to our accomodation by 7.45 PM, we had missed the very popular Ganga Aarati held daily evening on the banks of the River Ganga. Instead, after dinner, we sat down on the riverfront at 'Har-ki-Pauri' for about an hour just watching life go by. The entire riverfront is a big, brightly lit marketplace with people selling a lot of the 'spiritual' sounding knick knacks and a huge number of vegetarian hotels all providing vegetarian fare.

I also ventured into the parallel road of the riverbank to meet my travel agent and the walk was priceless.It is something like mixing the street of Las vegas squeezed into the space of a small room. Blindingly bright lights, rows of shops selling curios, jewellery, souvenirs ... and oh so delicious Sweeets like rabdi and Jalebis!! Yum Yum !

Another day gone.. quite tired but also excited and ready to begin the main journey the next day... See you tomorrow as we start off early morning towards Yamunotri, the sacred birthplace of River Yamuna.

Day1 - 16 May 2008- Delhi.

Travelling for 2 nights and a day in air conditioned comfort in the Rajdhani express was alright, but getting out at 6 AM to the Delhi heat was altogether another experience. Especially, for someone used to the cooler climes of Bangalore, It was like being thrust into a blast furnace without any protection. :-)

We had arrived at Hazrat Nizamuddin- the railway station for the area named after a renowned Sufi master , Nizamuddin Auliya .

My cousin Namita had very thoughtfully arranged for her car and driver to pick us up from the station and drop us to a hotel that I had booked. As we drove past the 'Dargah' of Nizamuddin, looking at the wide open space and the towers within, I had the urge to visit it right then. Somehow, didn't do that. Will go one day, for sure.

The hotel , named Gold regency- no less (!), was just minutes away from the New Delhi railway station from where we had to take the train to Haridwar at around 4 PM. So, we had close to 9 hours of stopover at Delhi.

The paharganj lane where the hotel was situated, was as narrow as can be and I was quite amazed when the driver turned around the Honda city in a classic 3-point turn within that small lane. The lane was full of shops and got extremely busy as the day progressed ( See Pic).

The entrance to our hotel did not look too appealing and I suddenly had misgivings about having taken a room there. Would we have to stay in a matchbox sized room with cockroaches for company, I wondered.

To my relief, the lobby looked better and the room was not too bad either. In fact, at Rs 500 for an AC double room, I thought it was a steal. Ask me why? Because I remember having shelled out 35 Euros (Around Rs. 2100) for a much smaller room, minus the AC, in downtown Paris a few years ago. In these matters, there's really no place like my wonderful India ! Mera bharat truly Mahaan !

My dear friend Gaurav Gupta, the quintessential Delhiite, member of my team and lunch group at my previous firm, called and said that he'd come over to meet us at the hotel around 10 AM. All of us had showered and had a brief nap by 9.30 AM and were ready to go out, the heat notwithstanding. So, Gaurav comes in and says, "Chalo". I asked "where"? And he replied Gurudwara bangla sahib. It was located close by and really worth a visit. I was intrigued because I had never heard of this place before.

Although in the heart of the city near connaught place, the Gurudwara is housed in quite a large area. As I saw the spacious structure with golden domes and a large lake called as the Sarovar, I was mesmerised. I felt a sense of peace pervading the entire area. The inner sanctorum has the holy book of Sikhs, the 'Guru granth Sahib' placed on a golden pedestal. The hall is simple yet elegant. Devotional music can be heard at al times. There is a small tank where water is said to emanate from a natural spring and is called as 'Amrit'.

The water from this pond is said to have been sanctified by the 8th guru of Sikhs, Shri Harkishen Sahib. When he visited the site many years ago, there was an epidemic of smallpox in and around Delhi. At the request of the then owner of this area, Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur, the Guru visited the place and kept his feet in the pond. Since then, whoever drank the water, got cured of the small pox. Even now, it is considered holy water and everyone who visits the place does partake of the 'Amrit' which is said to have healing powers.

When we went in, there were volunteers pouring the 'Amrit' from the tank into the palms of devotees and visitors. Everyone just filed in a line, drank the water and moved on. For some reason, one of the volunteers (very good looking sikhwith designer glasse, I noticed) pulled us aside and even without us asking, narrated the story and the background of the holy water , including the details about when and how it all occured. In some way, I felt we had been blessed.... because I noticed no one else was being given any kind of special treatment like us. I took it as a good omen and the thought suddenly struck me... Wow ! What a way to begin a long pilgrimage- An unscheduled trip to a holy site with holy water and special treatment thrown in

as a bonus!

Back to the hotel and a simple yet delicious packed lunch from my cousin Namita's place. We asked Gaurav to share the food with us and amidst a lot of ribbing about his impending marriage, we had a nice conversational lunch among the 5 of us.

Lunch over, Good byes were said to Gaurav and Namita. It was soon time to catch the train onward to Haridwar at 4 PM. Although I had made the reservation for the train online, I had not been able to get AC or even a sleeper ticket. The coach was a chair car and WITHOUT A/C! I thought that since it was just a 4 hour journey, we would somehow manage it. Big mistake !

The heat was truly ON! and for the next 4 and a half hours, I must have sweated a few buckets for sure...What a relief then that as the train approached Haridwar around 8.30 PM, mother nature showered rains all around and the air became cool ! I thought it was the perfect end to a gruelling, hot, 5 hour journey.

Tushar Nath, the main man from Haridwar based Shivalik travels was there waiting for us outside the station with our rented white Ambassador car which would be our mode of transport for the next 10 days or so. Although, quite an eyesore compared to modern cars, it is THE best car for Indian roads, especially Indian hill roads. Extremely rugged, the older version can still seat 3 people in the front and 3 at the back comfortably with lots of space for luggage in the boot. Arvind Sharma, the cab driver, who would be our friend, companion and guide for the 'Char dham' circuit, turned out to be a pleasant chappie who was a local and had been in the business for the last couple of decades. Finally, reached Manidweep Ashram, our accomodation at Haridwar, arranged very kindly for us as mentioned earlier, by Superintendent of Police of the neighbouring district of Rorkee. Had a quick dinner outside and crashed. Oh.. what blessed sleep ! Dreaming of what the journeys hold for us over the next 10 days !

Back to blogging ... after a 2 year gap!!

Finally.... my writer 's block (or rather blogger's block) seems to have gone! Hopefully, I will be more regular in blogging now.

My first post was 3 years ago... almost to the day- May 12, 2006. I was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on an assignment. I had an audience online to share my thoughts with.... I had felt so excited!

My last post was in January 2007. And then something happened... too busy at work, home, life in general... and I stopped doing something which I feel comes so naturally to me... writing about myself :-)

So, what prompted me to get back to blogging Now???

A trip. Or rather, the memories of a trip - which I made with my parents exactly a year ago. Everything about the trip now seems quite amazing. The manner and speed in which it got planned. The complete confidence with which we planned it...blissfully unaware of so many possible ways in which it could go all wrong. The wonderful support that we received from so many quarters, some of it totally unexpected. The many instances of divine grace which seemed to flow like a stream throughout the journey. So many occurrences when things went totally wrong .. and then righted themselves ... miraculously :-). The total experience of India as it IS. The fresh mountain air... The rivers and streams... The heat and dust. The sights and sounds ... For some time, the feeling of being detached from the world...( imagine.. No mobile network for TEN days!!)

All these and more memories flood through my mind and make me want to share them. As it happened. I had wanted to write about it all soon after the trip... but never got around to it...

So, finally, after a long break, I have the perfect excuse; no, the perfect reason, to get back to blogging. Be warned though... when the urge strikes, I really churn out long posts... So, read at leisure... :-)

For the next couple of weeks, I will share through this blog whatever happened on that day exactly 1 year ago.

Here goes... First some background to the trip itself.

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Sometime last year, around this time, I realised that I had not taken a big break from work for a long , long time.It looked like my work-life balance was heavily tilted towards the work side.I really, really needed a break! Soon after, my mother asked me– “Son, When are you taking us to Badrinath?” That did it. I decided to start planning a trip to Badrinath. After all, what better way to take a break than to get away from it all and breathe in some fresh mountain air? For the uninitiated, Badrinath, up in the north Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, is considered as one of the holiest places for a hindu to visit. While looking it up on the internet, I found that a lot of the pilgrims who visited Badarinath also visited Yamunotri, Gangotri (sources of the Sacred rivers Yamuna and Ganga respectively) and Kedarnath. Collectively, the four sites are termed as ‘Char-Dham’. Now, I thought-How about that? It made sense to cover all the four places as we were anyway traveling so far. My parents then went a step further saying that they wanted to visit another 3 sacred sites in the towns of Varanasi, Gaya, Allahabad. This was becoming a full fledged pilgrimage across north and central India and I was getting really excited just thinking about it.

We would need at least 10 days in the mountains for the 'char dham' and a week or so for the other sites. Some quick calculation and we found that even if we did the trip as soon as we could, it would take at least 18 days to cover completely. Which meant at least 12 days of vacation from work!! At first, asking for that much vacation seemed daunting, but soon I realised, it was perfect timing.. I was in the mid of transitioning from one role to another and work wise, it was not a particularly busy period for me. The first of the many miracles happened : My bosses were kind enough to approve the entire 12 work days of leave!

Now, on to the actual planning.. We thought of travelling by train to Hardwar with a change-over at Delhi. A rented taxi for 10 days would have us covering the 'Char Dham' circuit from Hardwar to Hardwar. Then, on by train to Varanasi, Gaya , Allahabad and finally back to home sweet Bangalore.

The enthusisasm was so high that the potential problems of the very short notice available for booking travel and accomodation at 10 different destinations just didn't occur to me. Thank God it didn't... otherwise I would have abandoned the journey before it began!

As it happened, we got help ... in various ways. A retired senior police officer -(ex) colleague of my dad (God bless him :-) ) - put us in touch with the local police SP who helped to book good accomodation for us at Haridwar. The local police SP also checked on and ensured that we had a reputable travel agency to rent the taxi from at Hardwar for the Char dham trip.

My dad's colleague, through local police again, also ensured that we had excellent and very reasonably priced accomodation at Allahabad with a car at our disposal thrown in for good measure.

The internet came in very handy for making the train bookings... few clicks of the mouse and I had my printed tickets in hand. No more waiting in long queues at railway stations.

Also booked a hotel room just opposite Delhi Railway station for a very reasonable rate through the internet. Truly, the power of the internet has revolutionised India as never before.

Finally, we were all packed and set to leave Bangalore for Delhi by train on the night of the 14th May, 2008. As we chugged along in the auto rickshaw to the railway station, I was still in a daze that we were actually doing the trip. I also had a couple of other thoughts- I was sorry that I could not take my wife and daughter along- Daughter was just over 2 years old and wouldnt be able to take the rough and tumble of the trip. The other thought was... How the hell did we manage to stuff in about 11 (or was it 8?) pieces of baggage AND the three of us in ONE auto???

Anyways, Got into the right train at the right time (you will realise why I mention this later)- the Rajdhani express from Bangalore to Delhi - It is really comfortable and it was a pleasure to travel in for 2 nights and a day. Reached Delhi on the early morning of 16th.

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So, what did we do on the 16th May, 2008? That, my dear reader, is in my next post which I publish on the night of 16th May, 2009. Till then... Ciao and have fun !

Bald and Beautiful !

I am back again ....after another long break. This time, the post is an article that I wrote for my office in house ezine , on baldness and how I dealt with it. Hope it amuses and entertains ...



I read somewhere that the key to a balanced life is the ability to laugh at oneself and have a sense of (self- deprecating) humour. So, in this article, I am going to give it a shot and poke some fun at myself and my other “hairily challenged” friends.

When I first learnt about genetics and heredity, I remember asking my 10th standard biology teacher about whether baldness was a hereditary trait and could be passed on from parent to child. I also remember the whole class laughing when she said “Yes”. The class had caught on to the fact that I was wondering if I would also have sparse vegetation on my head later in life following my dad’s …. Er ‘Head steps’. Well, I also laughed along with the class, because I had a full head of hair then and the possibility of baldness seemed pretty remote.

It was around the age of 22 that I noticed a significant change in my hair levels. They began falling out like the force of gravity was particularly getting stronger on them. And not just gravity, they seemed to develop an undue affection for water. A “head bath” was a sure way to clog the drains- with my hair!

Now, when a young man looks at the mirror, the single dominant question in his mind is: “Am I handsome or what?” Before my hair lost their strong attachment to my scalp, I was always able to answer a resounding “YES” to the question, but the answer soon started to sound feebler and feebler and worse, was replaced by an even more critical and life challenging question: “Am I going Bald?” I found myself replying: “Nah! I am just combing it the wrong way!” This is what some would call a bald lie.

Nevertheless, the exodus of hair kept progressing (and whether I like it or not, continues to this day…L) and from time to time, I tried pretty much all the cure-alls that are available in the market. Oils, massages, creams- all exorbitantly priced, mind you, taking advantage of society’s love for men with heads full of hair. But, I stopped short of alternatives like hair weaving/ artificial hair which I felt would be like messing around with whatever Nature has given me.

Being a born optimist, I have accepted this phenomenon and am at peace with it. Like everything else, baldness has its positive side.
I save money on a lot of the things that men with hair splurge on- Combs, Shampoos, hair styling gel, haircuts. And money saved is money earned !
I am not at all affected by any Hair Raising incidents.
No bad hair days for me !!!!
I love to quote Anupam Kher – “Madhuri (Dikshit) and I have something in common. We both use Head and Shoulders shampoo. She uses it for her head and I use it for my shoulders.”
“God made few Perfect heads. The rest, He covered with hair!!”
I rarely worry about getting grey or white hair!

When there’s very less light around, the cry goes out- Call Sunder, He is a very bright guy! Of course, I have grown “Brighter” with every hair that I have lost. I guess I took Buddha’s advice of “Be a Light Unto yourself ” too literally. At least for my head, I did.

The only negative I can think of is that when I wash my face, I sometimes don’t realize where my face ends and my head begins !
So now, I am (mostly) bald and proud of it. Come to think of it, I didn’t complain when I inherited all the good genes from my dad. So, why complain now?

Drive in Peace !

Following is another article that I have written for my office magazine. It is about driving in India without honking. It is long, so do read at your leisure.

DRIVE IN PEACE!!

Imagine driving on Indian Roads WITHOUT the noise of blaring horns! Wouldn’t it be like in the western countries …. Where traffic moves along smoothly and without the blaring horns?
Much has been said about the driving conditions in India. Some say that to drive in India requires 3 things- a good horn, good brakes and good luck! Anyone who has driven in Bangalore peak hours will agree with me that all of the three are tested to their limits every day as people go about their daily routine trying to get from point A to point B.

We Indians do not really need much of a reason to honk. We honk when –
· We are angry that the cabbie in front is not giving way.
· We are listening to music and want to keep the beat with the horn
· We are driving fast towards a cross road and don’t want to slow down at the junction. (Heaven help someone who can’t hear well!)
· We are frustrated that the traffic ahead hasn’t moved an inch for the last half hour.
· We have a monstrous truck horn on our 2-wheeler and we like to sneak up on cars and honk when we are very close! We love to see the reaction of the car driver. (Seriously, This happens !)
· We have seen someone across the road that we recognize but the other party has not noticed us.
· We need to inform other drivers that we exist.
· A group of pedestrians standing at the side of the road decide all of a sudden that they have to cross the road just before your vehicle is approaching.
· There is a ‘Please sound horn’ painted on the back of the truck in front. I mean, when the guy is requesting you……How can you not?

One day, while driving on my way to work, amidst a cacophony of horns, I started thinking the unthinkable – Is it at all possible to drive one full trip without using the horn? The peak hour traffic was as usual on a weekday morning and so it really was a challenge. Would it work? I took a deep breath and decided to try it out.

As the car in front moved forward creating a gap, a bunch of two-wheelers rushed in to fill the gap just as air rushes in to a vacuum. With steely determination, I stayed calm and did NOT honk. An Auto rickshaw, probably following Heisenberg’s principle of uncertainty (of being a wave as well as a particle at the same time), swung out in front of me from nowhere and with a loud engine to boot! And how did “yours truly” react? “Barked an abuse at him and slammed the horn and brakes together keeping the pressure on the horn longer than necessary”, did you say? Sorry to disappoint you. I suppressed years of driving instincts, and chose NOT to react! Meanwhile, a slow moving, fully loaded truck ahead of me, moved to right of the road in a bid to overtake other, slower moving traffic as it started up the flyover. A little way up the flyover, forces of gravity and inertia kicked in big time with the truck. Added to this was the antiquity of its engine and we became a big group of slow moving traffic. Imagine driving a new generation car designed to cruise smoothly at high speeds having to move at snail’s pace just because the driver ahead overestimated the abilities of his truck! “Now what?” I thought. Well, when life gives you lemons, why not make lemonade? So, without endangering surrounding traffic, I became more aware of my surroundings. I started observing the greenery around me, checked out the newer buildings that had come up on the route, listened and absorbed the lyrics of the music from the car stereo and started seeing the others around me as fellow human beings with their own cares of the world. Before I knew it, 25 minutes had passed and I was at the office. And guess what? I had NOT honked along the whole route!!! Hmmm, I thought, so it IS possible, How about I try it on my return trip? The return trip too was an unqualified success. Slowly, I extended my initiative to all my driving trips. And It has worked. Ladies and Gents, I am happy to announce, I have been on “The (honk-less) Path” for over a month now.

Well, obviously, I definitely use the horn if it endangers safety, but the needless, uncontrollable and habitual urge to honk no longer exists within me.

Here are the benefits I have experienced as a result of the “Honk Less, Live longer” initiative, as I call it.
· Reduced stress as I get out of the car at the end of a drive. Feel much calmer nowadays!
· Ability to enjoy the journey as much as reaching the destination. I tend to observe surroundings around me while I drive at a leisurely pace, even though the leisure is not of my choice sometimes!
· I have extended my “need for peace” further to switching off my vehicle whenever I need to stop for longer than a minute at any traffic light. This also helps reduce smoke pollution!
· I tend to smile at errant drivers thereby making them feel a little more relaxed and less prone to ‘errant’ driving behavior. I like to think that I have been able to reduce at least one accident or road rage related incident every day.
· Instead of honking, I stop and motion for a pedestrian halfway across, to go ahead. The look on the pedestrian’s face is pure magic ! (Disbelief followed by a broad smile, usually)

So, my dear friends, I sincerely urge you to give it a shot and learn to drive in peace, even under trying circumstances. Perhaps, you can move towards the goal of silence on the roads like how you kick any other addictive habit like, say Smoking. Start by deciding that you will only honk 5 times a day at the most. The next day, bring it down to 4 a day and so on…. You may think that you alone changing your driving behaviour cannot make a difference. But remember, small drops join together to form the massive power of the ocean. If the story on ‘The hundredth Monkey’ is to be believed, it only needs a critical mass of a group of people doing things a certain way for the entire group to follow suit. I do believe that together we can make a difference and create a calmer driving environment. So, if you succeed (as I am sure you will), do spread the news and inspire others to follow suit.

Did I hear you say – Let me also try it ! :-)

How to Convert MS-Word docs to PDF format

Hi,
This may be probably known to a lot of people. On the other hand, it may NOTbe known to a lot of other people. As you can intelligently gather, this post is for the second set of people
:-)

Follow the instructions to create your file.

· Click on the following link http://www.pdfpdf.com/pdf4free.html
· Click on the large blue "DOWNLOAD" button
· Click "Open" on the files download window
· Click "Next" on the Install Wizard Setup and complete the installation.

YOU HAVE NOW INSTALLED AN ADOBE PDF PRINT DRIVER

Test Installation
· Load any document (Word, PPT, etc)
· Click on "File"
· Click on "Print"
· In the printer drop down name select "Adobe PDF"
· Click "OK"
· Select the folder in which you want the PDF document stored and click "Save"

YOU HAVE NOW SAVED AN ADOBE DOCUMENT TO THE FOLDER OF YOUR CHOICE. ENJOY !

The Yoga High !

This post is an article that I wrote on Yoga. It is kind of long, but I hope you have the patience to read it fully ! Here it flows :



Disclaimer: The author does not claim or expect to be treated as an expert on Yoga. The content of this article is purely based on the personal experiences that the author has had since he began practicing Yoga. Permission has been obtained from the source for quotes/information mentioned in this article.

Although Yoga means different things to different people, depending on what they have read, heard about it, I would like to offer my view of Yoga as I have experienced it first hand.
Yoga- What does the word mean to most of us? In general, most people have the following preconceived notions:

· Yoga is a set of convoluted postures after doing which you won’t be able to figure out your left hand from the right.
· Yoga needs a lot of time and effort. I want a quick fix to my chronic health problems.
· Yoga is too passive for my liking. I’d rather go to the gym and work out vigorously to lose some of that flab around me.
· It is something taught to huge crowds in open grounds by bearded swamis and broadcast on aastha or sanskaar channels!
· Yoga is relevant to a particular creed or group and will not benefit me because I do not belong to that group!
· Yoga leads to a “spiritual” awakening and who wants that? I just want to earn money and spend it on stuff that I can chill out with!

And So on and so forth ……

In fact, I harboured almost all of the above beliefs at one point of time or the other. However, 2 years back, I started attending (Bharat Thakur’s) Artistic Yoga classes regularly and to put it mildly, I feel quite differently now. Let me explain ….

· Yes, Yoga is to do with complicated postures, but it is a lot more than just that. My initial weeks of Yoga found me grimacing and wincing through pain and sweat as I held a pose or went through the rhythmic yet strenuous motions of a Suryanamaskaar (sun salutation). My trainer had mentioned that the real benefits start pouring in provided you persevere for a month or so and she was right. I found that once my body got the message that I wasn’t giving up, it co-operated with me better. I started enjoying the pain while holding the poses. There was a sense of achievement when my palms connected to the ground without bending my knees. Pranayama, or the breathing exercises helped me to increase my stamina and I found to my joy that I could finally do what I thought was impossible- 108 Suryanamaskaars at a stretch with the rest of the class! So, essentially, Yoga helped me to break the artificial barriers in my MIND! Now, it also made me able to handle work related stress better than prior to starting Yoga. The stress did not go away all of a sudden; I was just able to handle it better without getting worked up as before.

· At one point of time, I had compared ways of self improvement and I had looked towards alternative healing techniques like Reiki because it hardly needs effort as compared to Yoga. Down the line, I realized that the benefits of Yoga are longer lasting and even permanent if done regularly. It does need time - about an hour a day at least, to really add value. But one can start off with a half hour as well. I found that the effort also reduces with time as one gets better and better. There is another type of effort involved. That of organizing your schedule so that you can commit to spending the time for your practice. This can be a tough one - what with different types of activities pulling you in all directions and with your dependence on family or even the housemaid to get your work done on time. But all said and done, there are some areas of your life where you simply cannot compromise on the quality or quantity of time you spend on it. If you take the time out and make a list of such activities, I am certain that your health will be within the top 3 priorities. If yes, then your next challenge is to work out a way to do what it takes to be able to devote time to improving your health. With some creative thinking, you should be able to fit in time for a yoga class nearby. A suggestion here is that you join a class which is continuous, that is, it doesn’t end with a month of teaching and then you are expected to do what you learnt at home, later. It almost always doesn’t work out.

· That Yoga is good for toning the body was known earlier. However, when certain yogic exercises like Suryanamaskaar are done rapidly and with breath control, they turn out to be great cardiovascular exercises and are very effective at burning fat where it matters. Usually, at the end of every class, I am sweating but also feel very refreshed, like I have just walked out of a waterfall. Also, according to Yoga expert, Bharat Thakur, aerobics and gymming out works on the larger/longer muscles of the body, while Yoga works holistically, on even the smallest muscles right down to the cellular level. Since I have never had to “lose” weight for the simple reason of never having “gained” much weight, I can only vouch for this by speaking of some of my yoga classmates visibly slimming down over the period of a few months.

· Some Yoga teachers like Swami Ramdev have popularized Yoga tremendously in India by conducting mass Yoga sessions in huge open areas where thousands are known to turn up and move arm and limb as the man demonstrates. He is also beamed down to drawing rooms nationwide in the form of TV coverage and CDs easily available in the market. So, you can’t attend a yoga class? Bring the yoga class to your home !

· Although it is true that Yoga is associated with Hinduism, It is a universal science that has risen above religion. Patanjali, who is credited as being one of the earliest teachers of Yoga has written in his definitive work “Yoga Sutras” that Yoga is the restraining of the mind-stuff (chitta) from taking various forms (vrittis)." Swami Yogananda, one of the most respected gurus to arrive in America (1920), termed yoga the "science of mind control." All the posturing and the breathing are a means to eventually achieve this final goal. Thus, there is no mention of any particular group or creed which is linked to Yoga. It is available and accessible to anyone in the entire universe who wants to go beyond their limiting selves and be open to expanding their potential.


· I am not sure whether Yoga leads to a “spiritual” awakening, but this I am sure of - the practice of Yoga with a good teacher, changes you for life. To me Yoga means - the ease with which I face my day after having got my daily morning “dose”, the sheer joy of exploring and going beyond my limits, the desperation to get back to Yoga after a 6 months gap following a surgery and more… It is not a vague theory that lives in my mind. I practice and the results are there for me to see!

There are many different “brands” and “forms” but the underlying core of all Yoga is the same. Patanjali codified it into eight limbs (called Ashtanga Yoga) of which “Asana” and to some extent, “Pranayama” are just a small part of ONE of the limbs. It is however the “Asanas” by which Yoga is now known by, mainly in the west. Funnily enough, it is only after the west took to it in a big way that we, in India, have realized its true value. When a scheme to send Yoga tips by SMS was launched by a major mobile phone company in India, it flopped, prompting someone in California to remark in a web forum, they should have done that in California, No one does Yoga in India any more!
Yoga is a Vast and varied science which evolved out of ancient sages who were true scientists experimenting with their own bodies by observing nature all around them. So, when they say a peacock dancing gracefully, they came up with Mayurasana; When they noticed a serpent rearing its hood, they devised bhujangasana; and so on ….
I could go on and on about the deeper aspects of Yoga, but I would like to leave you with something practical- a URL to a site which depicts how to de-stress yourself while at work. Go to http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1484325.cms to practice desktop Yoga.
So, what are you waiting for, Find a yoga class, Get (your Yoga mat), set and Go !!!

At the NASSCOM HR summit, Chennai

As I enjoyed coordinating our company's participation and attending the NASSCOM HR Summit at Chennai between 18th and 20th July, I am putting down verbatim, the text of an article that I later wrote for my company's magazine. I have written something after ages and so, it also, so to say, marks my return to writing- somthing I enjoy doing but am not sure others enjoy reading as much !

Since this was written for the company mag, there are some references to names of my colleagues whom you might not know. Here goes :

The War for talent

Building an HR eco-system – NASSCOM, HR Summit 2006

The third week of July! It was that time of the year again when NASSCOM sounds the bell for all members of the IT and ITES industry, particularly the HR divisions, as well as academia, to put on their thinking caps, sharpen their ears and minds, and turn up in large numbers to Chennai. To disseminate information, observe, learn, and absorb from the gathering whatever they can, and when they go back to their jobs try and make their work and life better. This year, though, the bell sounded more like a war horn, for the topic of the summit was, The War for talent: Building an HR eco-system.

The event was scheduled between July 18, 2006 and July 19, 2006; the venue for the summit was regally and aptly named Le Royal Meridien hotel. The hotel with its huge dome shaped lobby, the immensely spacious interiors, and the glittering chandelier lit, the conference hall seemed to be the perfect place for a gathering of senior HR executives, industry gurus, CEOs, and HR product and service providers besides senior faculties from higher educational institutes.

Unisys, like the previous year, was a platinum sponsor this year too, and so sent a team of six of us as delegates to man the stall, network with fellow members of the industry, build a positive perception of Unisys, and of course to participate in the various panel discussions and gain valuable insights and knowledge. The delegates included Benny, Jagnoor, Swarnalakshmi, Vishal, Raisa and Sunder. Mukul Agrawal was a special delegate by virtue of being a chairperson for the keynote session.

The preparation from Unisys for the summit started in right earnest about three weeks before the summit, with plans being made for what we needed to have in the stall. After some brainstorming, we decided we would need to put up Unisys posters, have copies of crisp and slickly designed Unisys or UGSI brochures on the desk, a plasma TV playing the Unisys promo videos, and as an incentive for visitors, attractive giveaways of mouse pads with the Unisys logo, and the five pillars on the pad. To ensure that nothing was left to chance, one of us reached the venue a day earlier, and set the ball rolling, getting in touch with the NASSCOM team. By the early morning of July 18, the Unisys stall was ready with the posters up, the brochures, and give-aways on the table, and the videos playing merrily on the plasma TV.

The first session of the summit on Human Capital Architecture was kicked off by Mukul, who as the chairperson introduced the speaker, Dr. Scott A Snell from Cornell University, USA. Dr. Snell spoke about value creation, human capital and talent management in a very insightful and sometimes witty manner to the delight of the audience. Mukul chaired the session in a structured manner, and his inputs in context to the Indian IT industry were well received.

As the day progressed, we were treated to some of the brightest minds of the country expounding on and exchanging views in various discussion panels on topics ranging from HR best practices in global sourcing, innovative trends in compensation and performance management, to the changing role of HR as a strategic partner. The speakers were senior HR stalwarts from companies like Accenture, Mercer, HP, CTS, Flextronics, EXL, and Symantec. Some of the current issues, like rising attrition rates, lack of employable talent, need for employee empowerment, global sourcing impact and imperatives were discussed threadbare, and the audience enthusiastically participated in well answered Q and A sessions.

Meanwhile, at the stall, scores of people visited and enquired about Unisys, and were handed out brochures and give-aways. As per NASSCOM estimate, there were about 550 people who attended the summit, and most of them now know about Unisys.

The special lunch and dinner provided ample scope for everyone to network. Meanwhile, Benny and Vishal made good contacts. Raisa and Sunder kept track of the logistics and the stall, while Jagnoor and Swarna absorbed knowledge imparted by the HR gurus in the day sessions.

The second day saw a rejuvenated audience ready for another day of bouncing around new concepts and ideas. A very inspiring (and witty) lecture by Prof. Dr. Lawrence Wong, of the NUS, Singapore, had the crowd asking for more. Dr. Wong spoke on the different leadership paradigms, and of how the visionary leader is the one who almost always succeeds in spite of a chaotic and uncertain scenario all around. His speech was particularly liked because of the reference he made to the inherent Indian strength of a heritage of spiritual leadership and the inspiration that was available to be tapped, for today’s business scenario in India. He emphasized that Indians need to pay attention to and build the spirit of the enterprise or company to lead the company to success. The other topics debated on during the second day included, capability development, workforce diversity and workshop sessions on closing the skills gap, driving value to business, and successful models for industry academia. Finally, the evening came to an end, and it was time to leave after a refreshing exposure of two days, to different perspectives in the HR arena.

I have a new job !

It's been a looong looong time since I posted last and I know I should keep posting more frequently. Incidentally, whoever did visit my blog to read info related to Riyadh, did appreciate it as it helped to clear a few misconceptions about Saudi Arabia.
Coming back to the present, Let's see. Lots of events have happened since I posted last. I came back from Riyadh on Jun 11th, changed jobs from TCS to Unisys India on Jun 19th, coordinated and attended the NASSCOM HR summit@ Chennai in mid July, watched my darling daughter Srishti learn and grow a little more everyday(most interesting !) . Another major milestone is that I have recently resumed Yoga after a break of 6 months. I had stopped it due to my knee injury and subsequent surgery. So, my next few posts are going to be about these topics in general.
This post is going to be about my new (well, relatively new) job at Unisys India. I am sure I have some good Karma because I am enjoying my new job so much. I have joined at a very exciting period for the company as it is in a tremendous growth phase and I am happy to be part of the same. There is a lot of autonomy in my work and the bosses as well as peers are easygoing and very supportive. My work involves dealing with lot of people as well as communicating, coordinating and making things happen in general... Which is what I have wanted to do always . I was doing this in my previous job on a smaller scale but now there is much more visibility. Another important advantage in my new job- the office is located in the city center- a mere 25 minutes drive from my home. In a city which is bursting at the seams due to overcrowded streets and messy traffic jams, it is a huge relief to be able to commute to work in less than half an hour !
From the time I sent my resume and during my interview, I had the feeling that this is going to be my dream job. I hit it off beautifully with my reporting manager during the interview and right from the beginning, it looked like this job and I were meant for each other. One more thing- After the interview, I did not have the usual anxiety - about whether I would get this job or not. I was almost detached... so to say. and the job literally fell into my lap. They gave me an offer and I asked for a revision based on the fact that I had received a good appraisal but not mentioned to them. I didn't expect it, but they came back with an offer that sounded like music to my ears and tasted like nectar to my tongue. There was nothing else for me to do but accept ! After accepting and agreeing to a joining date, what surprised and sort of frustrated me was that the recruiting folks called/emailed me at least 4 times to confirm the date that I was joining. As far as I was concerned, I had confirmed my joining date once and that was that. About a month after I had joined, I found out the reason. The market for IT talent is so hot at this time that people accept offers and dont turn up on the agreed date ! They either get a better offer or just decide they don't want to shift. So far so good, but the candidates do not even bother to inform the HR and dont take calls from them. The issue then, is that the company has to go through the whole process all over again and its such a waste of resources. Wonder if the candidates would do the same if the software slowdown of 2000 happened again ????....
On that note, and with manny many thanks to the Almighty for having blessed me with this job, I end this post. My next post is the article on the HR summit that I wrote for my office online magazine called Unibytes. Do come back!

Taxi stories from Riyadh

Hey everyone. Couldnt post for the last 2 weeks becos work schedule got crazily hectic.
There were days (or nights) when I and my colleague would leave the hotel at 9 AM in the
morning for work and return at 12 pm ....the NEXT day ! On the face of it, our deliverables were
just a Word document and an Excel sheet, but the work involved a lot of meetings,
information gathering and , not to forget- FORMATTING the documents which can drive a person
insane at times. Anyways, we have the project coming to a close tomorrow (Saturday) and so, I am relaxed enough today (incidentally only the second out of 5 Fridays that I am NOT in office) to be updating my blog. Thought of sharing a few 'Cabbies' stories with you.... here goes :

1. A pakistani cabbie talked with us with such joy and exuberance during the ride and seriously offered to completely waive the charge of 21 Saudi Riyals ( 1 SR = 0.27 USD = 13 INR approx) . His reasoning- Arre aap to hamare bhai hain - hamare humzabaan hain- aapse kya paise lena ? !!! Of course I insisted on paying, especially this guy.

2. A cabbie from UP, India (INdian Cabbies are quite rare in Riyadh) got talking with us and when asked if he preferred Saudi to Air india, narrated a little story. He said, the problem is with Indians, whether they work in Saudia or Air India. Once when he was travelling from Bombay to Riyadh, he stood in the line for a business class seat in Saudia counter at bombay airport. According to him, the (Indian) lady at the counter made fun of him for not knowing English and yet wanting to travel in business class. He then spoke to the Saudi guy in the next counter in fluent Arabic (which all the south asian cabbies here know well) and the Saudi guy scolded her and put the lady in her place firmly !

3. Then there was this bangladeshi driver who loved a bollywood song of Udit narayan which he put on full blast for my benefit. And for the rest of the 20 minutes ride he kept asking me the meaning of all the urdu words (I had never heard the song before) !

4. Another bangladeshi driver scared us out of our wits when he narrated tales of how women in purdah , in a particular area called Battha, robbed innocent men. Their plan was simple- go and demand money from a man and if he refused, threaten him that she would complain to the Muttawah (Religious police) , that the man was trying to get fresh with her. The system is such that the Muttawah would believe her and then the man was a gonner.


5. There was a Pakistani driver who was very friendly also and told us of Saudi women customers of his, who wanted to get friendly with him. he, being afraid of the consequences, would decline, or so he said. Personally, I felt, Saudi women would be a frustrated lot , for a woman, generally likes to be looked at and admired for her beauty. Now, if she were to be in purdah in public gaze all the time, how could anyone pass appreciative glances at them ? Leading to my theory that Saudi women (in general) were a frustrated lot. Disclaimer : I had no way to verify my theory- so i could be wrong !


So, I will close for today as I have to take a small nap and then plan to visit the Kingdom Center (KC) and Al faisaliya buidlings (the 2 visible-from-anywhere landmarks of Riyadh city) . These buildings (I visited the KC briefly on my first day here, for a meeting) are lavishly built inside out and contain shopping malls, restaurants and offices. More about these later if I find anything interesting to write about them.
CIAO !

Impressions of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia- -

This is my 13th day in Riyadh. I have been very busy at work, but from day to day interactions and observations, here are my impressions of Saudi life :
There are many Restrictions ( but only outside your home and outside the "Compounds")

1. All businesses shut down during prayer times. Locals or muslims to not even be seen walking around outside during these times; some leniency exists for outsiders.
2. All saudi women to be covered up fully in black with only a slit for the eyes open. Outsiders (women) also need to be covered up but can keep face visible.
3. No music to be played outdoors, not even by shops selling music ! A society without music- a body without soul !
4. No non-muslim can visit the holy cities of Mecca/madina. How can you block anyone from visiting a place of God ???!! Oh, I love INDIA- I visited the tomb of sufi saint Haji Ali just after visiting the mahalakshmi temple in mumbai .
5. You cant see many people taking photographs although there are the spectacular buildings like Kingdom center here- reason, u never know what may be forbidden to photograph. As I was advised against it, I didnt even bring my camera although I love to take pictures.
6. There are segregated city-like colonies called "compounds" wihch are either owned by someone in the royal family or a rich american company. Inside the compunds you have all restrictions taken off. they even have cinema theatres !

Roads and traffic

1. The roads are excellent- broad and laned with very high speeds possible.
2. Taxis are the only option to travel, very minimal public transport available. Although the good thing is that you can actually bargain the fares in a taxi inspite of all being equipped with meters.
3. The taxi drivers are mostly south asians with saudis being a minority. And the taxi drivers keep scolding the Saudi drivers (not just the ones who ply taxis) about rash driving. And it is true. They are seen to drive at speeds of over 120kmph- INSIDE THE CITY !!! Naturally, the accident statistics are a nightmare for the government. Recently the police has put in place very strict laws against rash driving with heavy fines and punishment, still the accidents continue.
4. The honking situation is slightly better than in India, although some of the junctions resemble indian traffic on weekends.

People and society

1. The impression that I got before I came here was that Saudis are arrogant and aggressive. So far, my co workers at this large bank have not been like that. in fact they are rather nice people.
2. The women are seen to be shown lot of respect, for eg. in shops etc., when one sees women, they move back to give way. But the real truth is that their rights are severely curtailed- the dress code, they are not allowed to drive. They have to be with a male family member and so on. BUT- things are changing..... they are being allowed to work nowadays at least in big cities like Riyadh.
3. There are ladies entrances and ladies/family areas in every building- offices/ hotels. No wonder, I didnt see may women when I was outdoors.
4. I was plesaantly surprised to read articles in the main english daily- Arab news- by 2 lady journalists. Both were quite strong minded and open although mentioning in passing that the society as a whole needs to look up to women and respect them as per ISLAM. But one of the articles was about- hold your breath - Eve teasing ! In which the lady is with her 11 year old daughter near one of the bigger malls and a car with some youths stopped by and they started shouting at her to take down a mobile no. When she cudnt ignore them any more, she walked as if to get inside their car and said" Which one of us do you want- her or me or both of us ?" And they sped away terrified !

Enough for today- have planned to go shopping for the first time since I came here..... Hope I get good stuff to shop! keep coming back !

Till then ..... Khuda hafiz !

The first post- From Riyadh

Hi all,
This is my very first post.. and I am in Riyadh, Saudi arabia. Welcome to my blog. please feel free to comment on any post. Firstly, my preset notions of Saudi as a place to live in lie shattered in pieces. I had heard that its a life full of restrictions and and about racist Saudis at the workplace etc etc. Well, there are some restrictions like all establishments being required to close during the 5 prayer times during the day and also restrictions on practising your faith if you are a non muslim, but one can build a decent life around these restrictions. Of course, its another matter if you are a woman... you ould need to become a 'WIB' (Woman in black), so to say , outside the house. The facilities are all there, the roads are fantastic- you've got to be careful though - the vehicles are driven at very high speeds - upto 150 kmph within the city. Some of the buildings like kingdom towers are unreal in their opulence. So much of glitter and luxury - amazing !
The people that I have worked with so far at the SAMBA bank have been very cooperative and nice to get along with.
I have a stay of about a month here and this is my first weekend here. still settling in so have not gone out much.
More in my next blog