Thoughts vs Emotions

 I rarely boast about anything including much higher than average Intelligence, instead preferring to being the laid back ghost. 

But sometimes that same Intelligence throws up a problem. Slightly more on the IQ almost eliminates EQ and slightly less means you know how to deal with or get solutions for your Emotions. But You refuse to stoop below and climbing up the IQ ladder is an understood limit.

This is where the problem props up-

You are at a stage where your Emotions are all effed up. 

The thoughts engage, but the emotions derail you. Constructive thoughts bring up a solution, but the same set of emotions stonewall again.

An explosive but well thought off burst rips out all emotions, but like the Molten metal from Terminator 2, the TX of emotions rises up again!

While 'Health is Wealth' has always been broadcasted, it shows up its value in uncharacteristic manners. Although it is only the Physical Health, is what I am talking here. 

It is a struggle of epic proportions, held strongly though, by a body built strong over the age.

Sometimes, Brawn is the bigger factor over both the Brain and the Heart.

Is it human to face such a situation? Even though the brain accepts this to be true, it does not want to go through it- there is no exoneration !

And while the heart knows that it is the culprit, it sings away merrily, watching the brain fighting an inferno it created, against which, it is born proofed !

It simply exemplifies why thoughts can be justified, but not the emotions.

When does this battle ever end ? Ageing like an Old Wine does look good in this battle. The David of Emotions does not stand a chance of winning even with all the cuts and bruises, but stays immortal. The Goliath of Thoughts, although invincible, finds it difficult to attain Peace and when it does, the emotions heal again, slowly re-igniting the inferno....

I guess, Peace is found when your are done fighting. Ahoy to being a Warrior, fighting the battles and hoping to finally Rest in Peace.

A Memorable Train Journey

My Compartment !

The Following write up is nothing but a train journey described in the best way possible. For most of you reading out there, its nothing special as many people would rather much brag about several other expensive modes of transport which would sound more exciting to them. For me this journey was followed by a flight back home which wasn't even close this experience except for the sublime view i got from the flight !

A Highly anticipated, planned & executed train journey was successfully completed on 27th July in the Nation's capital @ 0830hrs, exactly 15hrs 50mins after it started from the Nation's Financial capital.

12951Dn Mumbai Rajdhani Express, being pulled by a Ghaziabad WAP5, left BCT exactly @ 1640hrs, crossed over the only track i.e. the Up fast line & accelerated as soon as it hit the Main line. The Linke-Hofmann-Busch ( LHB ) rakes easily allow this heavy acceleration even on cross-overs, thanks to some German engineering !

Rajdhani trains in India are premium trains having the highest travel speeds, premium rakes, exclusive meal plans & preference over all trains except Shatabdis in terms of platform occupancy & overtaking on loop lines. My experience in the side seat 47 of B4 coach was no less enthralling.

The Mumbai Rajdhani exits platform 1 @ BCT giving it just the up fast line to cross over before hitting the Down Fast Main line. While you don't actually feel the acceleration of the Powerful WAP5 due to closed windows & the sound being buffed out, you tend to marvel @ the awesome suspension system on the LHB rakes.

I had swooped ahead on the platform with my camera to take a snap of the locomotive which I has hoped to be a WAP7, but even the eventual WAP5 was enough for me to set my sight on. Unfortunately 2 policemen didn't even allow me to get close to the front end, forget allowing to even raise my camera !! I tried to lose them on the platform, but they had their eyes set on me & my huge cam. I snapped the label on my compartment & slid in to my seat. It wasn't long after the aforementioned initial acceleration that the train must have clocked more than 75clicks. A WAP5 can accelerate a 18 car Rajdhani to 110clicks in just around 200secs, but not in Mumbai. The platforms rushed by & I could sense the co-passengers settling down comfortably while the discomfort within the rail staff had already started. By now the train was certainly doing more than 100 & out came our breakfast trays in just over an hour of travel. Coffee followed soon enough.

It was now then that the Premier train started to show some real punch. In excess of 120clicks the landscapes just rushed across while the suspension kept me seated as smooth as it could get in India !! The Maharashtra border was breached in just over 100mins to the enter the land of dhoklas & fafdas. The sky had seen the last of the sun for the day but still had the colours in deepest red when the train lined up @ Surat station to finish the 1st leg of the journey.

Fresh mix veg. soup arrived soon enough of which I drank 3 cups thanks to some empty seats in My compartment. The second leg of the journey- a short one finished @ Vadodara station. The train had arrived 5 mins. before time, which gave me more than enough time to wander on to the platform & get a Roasted & Salted singdanas !! The Vadodara halt is a big one owing to the earlier schedule wherein the loco used to be swapped here. A WCAM 2 used to pull the train up till here. The WAP5 now pulls train right from BCT after AC current was generalized all across Mumbai western suburbs. Going onto the slowest part of the journey, the 3rd leg till Ratlam, I wondered why it's so slow, maybe because dinner is served in this time & the recommended average speed on rail while having "DINNER" is just under 80clicks. Food was served almost immediately after Vadodara. 2 rotis, some paneer sabzi, little dal, rice & pieces of cucumber slices with some pickle isn't really a dinner for me. I had my own junk to add to the dinner. People had dozed off while I was still managing to eat. It was just after midnight that the honking 12952 Up Mumbai Rajdhani swished across the Up line. I soon realized that it was probably a few minutes late, considering that My train just hit the outer @ Ratlam & yes I was well inside MP now. 10mins early !!

With almost everyone sound asleep, the train began the 4th & the fastest leg towards the Nuclear city of Kota !! The average speed across this sector creeps above the 100clicks mark as the train literally starts to tear apart some sectors. Bam !! 0300hrs & the bogie attendant came running across to wake up the passengers who had to alight. Even alarms set by co-passengers were yet to go off as the train pulled in 20mins before time !! It was 0315hrs & there I was walking across the platform @ Kota. The train however premium, never leaves before time & it thus gave me a good 15mins to roam on an empty & silent platform. He attendant pleaded me to come inside & as the train jerked to embark on the 5th & the final sector of the journey, I slowly sank onto my seat to doze off. Kota-New Delhi is 468clicks & inspite of the early morn rush of trains on this sector the train turns up in average of over 90clicks for 5hrs. Mind you that the return leg on the same sector is the fastest in terms of maximum time, for any train in India- doing almost 105clicks for 4.5hrs!!

Early morn 0600hrs & the usual grumbling started. Hot beverages soon arrived just after Bharatpur. By the time I finished My coffee & some personal snack, the honking & the view of 2 extra tracks confirmed Mathura arrival. Strangely enough another train was on the main line @ Mathura Jn. & the Rajdhani had to take the loop line to overtake, amidst a very small stop on the platform due to signal. The tracks almost converged back & to be heard was the loudest Honk of any passing train till now. The Pride of the Indian Railways, The Fastest train in India was crossing the second fastest !! The Bhopal Shatabdi pulled by a Ghaziabad WAP5 rolled past in its glamorous blue livery well before time. This train hits the 150kmph barrier on the very flat & straight sectors between Mathura & Jhansi & is the only train to do so, not challenged by even the Bangalore/Chennai/Bilaspur/Secunderabad Rajdhanis running on the same route. Btw it even covers the distance upto Mathura in approx. 80mins after leaving NDLS @ 0600hrs.
Hopping back onto My train. Breakfast was being served & while I had My share of An omlette breakfast, I even gulped down cutlets which were hopeless in comparison to what we get on the Mumbai Pune sector !!

It was time to give some tip to the serving people & wait as the train made its way across Uttar Pradesh. Faridabad, Tughlakabad, Okhla rushed past as the train hit the brakes just before Hazrat Nizamuddin, slowly gutting down the last 7 clicks, to perfectly end the 15hrs 50mins on platform 1 @ Paharganj side of NDLS..

Next Up- The King of IR, New-Delhi Bhopal Shatabdi Express. Though the route is out of My travel sensibility, but I will find a way to travel these 700 clicks in just 8hrs...

Discovering My 1st DSLR part 2

Discovering My 1st DSLR part 2
( Declaration- I have never owned a DSLR before this & taken some worthwhile snaps only with a Nikon D40, D60 & a D3000. All of which were used for not more than a couple of hours. All of My statements are henceforth in this comparison. )

24th December- What a start to the day !!!
The Gadget of My life was right there in My bag as cool wind refreshed Me while standing @ the door of the train just past midnight. A race back home on My Red Mean Machine got Me the 1st look @ the Black Beast !!! Huge, heavy & built like a tank. No curves like the beautiful EOS 60D, but looks were no more My priority. A resounding click on the F mount, battery plugged in & I was ready to Hear the Mirror go clat clat clat. The bigger & brighter Viewfinder than My Baby Olympus gave a completely new perspective of looking at things..

Well the biggest issue seemed to Me was the weight of the behemoth. Weighing more than 1.1kg is nothing near to what I had used all these years. Well it turned out that My wrists were going to have a good work out !!!
Even the simplest of things are so fast on a DSLR. The startup is almost instantaneous. It can be put to sleep inside 5 inactive seconds & is still ready to AF & click inside 20ms. Shutter lag is non existent in comparison to P&S. This is partly due to accurate metering & super fast AF. The 9 Cross sensors spread across the frame ensure quick & accurate AF, more importantly even in low light & low contrast situations. This basically means ability to capture the perfect candid moment without fail.

Colour rendition, shadow detail, crisp sharpness, extreme ISO performance without Chroma noise are some results that have left Me gaping in some last few months. I can shoot 1600ISO even normally achieving excellent results. I feared crossing ISO 400 on My Olympus. Now that fear strikes Me on ISO 3200 !!! Now That's a full 3 stop advantage. For the normal person it simply means I can shoot @ 1/160 of a second while a non DSLR will struggle to freeze action @ 1/20. Plus I get better image quality & that to at 16.2mega pixels :D

The lens actually has a Mechanical zoom ring which is exponentially smoother than the electronic zoom ring. Zoom effect shots are obviously a charm to snap & look beautiful. Obviously even the Manual Focus ring is a charm. I can Macro shoot, but obviously not life size & not from very near. Reversing My lens is another option but not really feasible. My Olympus allowed Me to Macro @ 1cm range & more than life size owing to the small sensor size. Coming to the sensor size, the D7000 has a huge sensor which indirectly means longer focal lengths on lens & more shallower depth of field :D

1thing is obviously miss on My D7000 is the 520mm of equivalent focal length on the tele side & more so at just f/4.5. An approximate equivalent of about 450mm on a Nikkor will cost Me a cool 3lakhs!!!

The ability to attach filters is another wonderful though I just own a UV filter as of now. A circular polarizer & a ND8 filter are on My radar though. Some special effect n Colour filters tickle My imagination but I can Photoshop the colours anytime.

Speed & Continuous shooting modes are better n worse both @ the same time. D7000 captures @ a mere 6fps while the Olympus did an amazing 13.5fps. But the difference being 16megas vs 1.3megas !! Plus the Olympus was capped @ 30 jpegs while the Nikon is capped @ 100jpegs. The Olympus blanked out once the buffer was full & wouldn't allow Me to do anything except staring at it's blinking LCD, while the D7k still shoots more than 1fps once the buffer is full. It's the Continuous focus in these fast shooting scenarios that is simply awesome in general. I hardly lose focus once locked on !! A feature called 3D tracking auto tracks moving objects in proper conditions.

Metering is simply awesome giving accurate readings on every exposure. Only problem being, knowing what type of metering to use in which condition. The 2048pixels RGB Matrix meter delivers awesome landscape results but jut fails after an approximate 17EVs of ambient light systems. Now this condition is rare considering it would be a real Sunny Day & I would be needing to shoot slow shutter speeds !! Spot metering & center weighted are accurate across all conditions. I haven't considered the use of flash anywhere across these situations though.
Video quality is excellent but inbuilt audio recorder is mono aural & even captures Auto-Focus & zoom creeps. Auto-Focus shifts to contrast detection as the mirror locks up leading to a not very great AF system while doing Video. It's very simple- DSLR VIDEO is not for even Hobbyists. It needs loads of practice on a MF system to get the OOF neat & clean alongwith with sharp in-focus areas. Once that is done then its difficult for a camcorder to beat a D7k in video quality.

Mirror lock up mode, Intervalometer, User Modes are simple features but which add a lot to increase shooting possibilities. The battery life is jaw-dropping giving me approx 1200shots on a single charge with 10% flash usage. The ergonomics are perfect. The buttons are very convenient while 3 buttons give user customisation. The Top LCD is handy while the back one is nice & bright. The dioptric adjustment is sufficient for a normal eye sight.
Coming to the lens & other aspects.

The 18-105mm VR ED lens is a more than decent lens giving a wide angle & decent telephoto range. Enough to shoot a landscape, a portrait or even a candid some distance away. Flare is an issue but it's expected coming from a zoom family with many elements. The Hood does a pretty decent job though. It does block the flash while nearing the tele end leading to a shadowy patch @ the bottom center of the snap. Both the Zoom & Focus ring work flawlessly. A focus distance scale is sorely missed though. The plastic mount is strong enough even for everyday usage. The VR & Focus switch are placed within the thumb's reach.

The Sandisk Extreme III class 6 works great for the video while the primary Sandisk Class 10 Extreme gives an impressive 26-28 MBs write speeds. The perfect cards for a Fast DSLR system, although one might say that the latest CF cards are way too fast. But they come @ a cost and any which ways they are not supported on the D7k.

As far as My shooting exploits go, I've tried doing landscapes, sports photography, basic portraits & a few occasions. Shooting for HDRs is fun & gives a super slide show. Candid Photography needs lots of patience but results have seemingly been good. Sports is a challenge & daylight shots have come out nice. Shooting sports in dark is not that good due to a very slow lens. But a high ISO value sometimes is good enough to compensate. Flash photography is bad considering the power & nature of the pop-up flash. Have tried a few hand made diffusers though with a good diffusing result if not the illumination.

Well this almost says about My ongoing Unique experience with a Masterpiece. I don't say that other camera systems don't take good snaps. They do !!! Be it Canon, Sony. Olympus or on the higher side Hasselblad, Leica or Mamiya Medium format cameras which are drool worthy.
For Me, I am happy with I have got & I'm sure My camera won't let Me down. Otoh I always try & not let My camera down !!

Discovering My 1st DSLR.

Discovering My 1st DSLR.
It was way back in July '10 that my search for a DSLR started. As a Tech freak I was reluctant to ask any pro photographer about what to buy. I went about my search in the most intricate manner. Learning how every part of a camera is made & it's function.

The foremost contenders for my purchase were Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Sony & Olympus. Pentax I soon found had no presence in India in terms of sales & support. Not that these DSLRs go crazy on you but lens availability, cost & not enough as a competent product @ that time closed the doors on Pentax. Sony on the other hand is growing in this Market. Even lens compatibility is increased by the use of the same mount formerly used by Konica-Minolta. But yet again the after sales support & lens portability options left Me blank. Olympus had impressed Me with their Prosumer SP 570 UZ. But again lens availability & the EVIL Micro 4/3 put Me off. Especially the 4/3 sensor was disappointing considering the awesome reviews of Zuiko optics. The options had boiled down to Canon & Nikon. I figured out My budget, made some enquiries & got the 2 competing models fitting in My budget. Actually 3 cameras. Canon with EOS 550D/Rebel T2i/Kiss X4, EOS 50D & the Nikon D90. The Rebel was soon chucked owing to it's comparatively Poor Low Light & High ISO performance. Mind You it boasted of 18megapixels of images & Full HD Video recording. The 50D is a semi-pro model having a Magnesium alloy body & Excellent IQ. No video though. The D90 sprung out to be Jack of all trades. It neither had Full HD video nor the Magnesium alloy body. But the weakness of the Rebel was the Biggest strength of the Jack. It was at this time that Canon was buzzing around with their soon to be launched EOS 60D & Nikon was doing rounds with the rumoured D95. Not that I was interested in those models, but hoped that their launch would reduce the price of the model that I choose. Finally I approached few practising Photographers for their take on 50D vs D90. As it turned out this Canon vs Nikon war is like the same between Ferrari vs Lamborghini, Intel vs AMD, nVidia vs ATI or even Honda vs Yamaha !!! Those who support Canon will swear on it while those who use Nikon are anti-Canon. So it all went down on which deal is cheaper. The prices in USA are much cheaper than back here in India. Warranty is an issue, but as I mentioned earlier these Cameras don't give up so easily & the price difference was enough to convince Me to buy from USA. Now that I had enough time to buy, since My friend who was going to get it for Me was coming in December, I started to look for the cheapest deal around. September arrived as did the awaited EOS 60D, just 200USD outside My budget. The 50D wasn't getting any cheaper while the D90 price hiked !!!

Bammmm, Nikon launched the D7000 in October, way out of My budget !! Wait, the body only option was just 100USD off my budget...... Was it worth spending so much extra??? I asked myself this question a zillion times & never got a positive reply. The D7000 launch nose dipped the EOS60D value by a whopping 200USD making it the Best option out of no where. 50D & D90 were out of reckoning !!! 4 months of brain wracking had almost turned waste !!!
The 60D didn't have the Magnesium alloy body from it's predecessor nor the same burst rate. It did have Full HD video & a super swivel LCD display. Nikon, beat that !! It also looked stunningly beautiful better than any DSLR in My price point. Not that looks are important, but it's always an added Boasting point.

I turned My attention in gathering all the money & looking to someone who would buy Me the camera back across the Atlantic. A family friend agreed & I was ecstatic. Few of My Canonite Friends were also Happy !!

Test results had started to pour out soon enough & those explained the price drop of the Canon. The Nikon D7000 simply competed with the higher end cameras such as Canon EOS 7D & Nikon D300s, often outperforming them. Afaik these tests can be rigged more often than not & an intelligent user would just use them as a guide line & not the only basis of buying. Till then I had handled the Rebel, D90, 50D. For My hands the D90 was the most ergonomic, indirectly giving the D7000 an edge over Canon due to similarity in the respective upgraded cameras. But it was still very expensive...

My Tech Freak head had started to take over My Hobby now. It was no more 'The VFM Hunt'. Dual SDXC slots, a better Viewfinder, Handling & Ergonomics, partial Magnesium alloy body ( Polycarbonate in EOS 60D ), weather sealing & most importantly overall performance except video were good enough points to rack My brain further. Canon was about to lose a Customer !! Yet Money was going to be a problem. I could have got a Tele lens, multiple filters, a tripod with the D90 & yet saved some money. But No, D7000 was poking it's nose ahead of both the semi-expensive EOS 60D & the cheaper D90. Now to gather the extra money was even more worse. Mom comes to the rescue!! Yay :D

Catastrophe was to soon strike... As usual Nikon had announced the D7000 well before being shipping ready. The stocks were rare & expensive. The rare reviews coming added more to the agony as mega shops started to have more than 45 days waiting!! After keeping tabs on almost stores, My friend finally got hold of 1 piece @ Best Buy. While the camera travelled from Kentucky to New Hampshire to California, heading for India as the final destination, I even got the Sandisk class 10 SDHC cards. How these cards are monstrous was to be learnt later !!!
Well this sound to be the ending of the story, it actually isn't !! I had just 'Bought' My 1st DSLR not Discovered it by any means..
End of Part 1
Tune in further for the 2nd part...

The GO Journey

The GO Journey
Mid May 2005
I was busy pumping up those Bulging biceps those days. Regular to the gymnasium, I was putting on in all the right areas. Intermittently a Guy named Nikhil Agharkar used to pop in the gym, do some kind of freak workout & leave us envious, being the proud Owner of those 8pack abs & an awesome Athlete Body. On one of His rare trip to the gym, He asked whether I was interested in a trekking adventure... Wasn't I just waiting for this moment for a long time !!!
A Trek to Harishchandragad was planned, but due to less number of people it got shelved....
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Wait...!!!! How can it end here? This is just the start..
Come June 4th & the trek finally materialised. In front of Me were 2 of My good friends as of now, but who despised My presence @ that time. That's another story though. Aditya was also on his 1st trek with the grp. Uma & Her friend Shruti were the remaining people of which Shruti's presence was a Mystery soon to be solved !!
And so started My GO Journey. The term GO is very audacious & was termed much after, in the January of 2007 by another character who I call as The Grumpy Intellectual :P
The 1st trek- Laughter ensued almost as soon as the initial Hi-Hellos were done. A Laughter derived from the explicit GO language which has come large in all these years, uninterrupted, unchanged & unchallenged !!
A GR8 trek in which The Despising Kaustubh Juvale realised that I was the Fuel to his Fire !!!
( Nikhil, Me, Kaustubh, Anuja, Aditya, Uma & Shruti successfully returned to base)

The next trek 2 Naneghat introduced 3 more permanent characters to this GO family. The Tiny Chiu Dandekar aka Archana, who is now Chiu Juvale !! The Highly Spontaneous & Fiery Sushant Wad aka Susu & Tany the effervescent Tanmay Dikshit, who can talk out anybody as also Eat like Bakasur. Unlike Bakasur, He can eat that much & Continously- "to paryanta Me kahitari khato" is His standard dialogue.

The beautiful Gorakhgad trek followed. Hatti had an interesting time on the descend here. More to follow on this later.

The Mega Torna-Rajgad trek in December '05- This Trek really challenged everybody not in actual terms of climbing capacity but by the mere prospect of climbing Torna by morning, travel the ridge across to Rajgad base by late evening & climb up Rajgad to reach Padmavati mandir all the way around Sanjeevani Machi by midnight. Endurance !!!!

A Himalayan Trek around the Chadrakhani Pass in April-May was a different experience, but unfortunately not all GOs GOOed the Virgin paths.

Then came the weakest Time for Me in this group after an incident on Kothaligad. I descended alone to stay away for over a month from all. A Simple Burial of our behaviour & acceptance of Our mistake by Me & Nikhil paved the way for an inspiring trek partnership which has rooted itself deep for the rest of Our lives. Yes, even Me & Jadi have been better friends after that !! Jadi aka Anuja & lately aka HATTI was the second character who wasn't very pleased on My arrival in the group @ the first.

It was in Dec '06 that one of the most Memorable trek happened for the GOs- Ratangad. Not just due to the mere fun but for many reasons. We travelled by rail, then land, then on water to finally ascend this beauty of a huge rock. The climb up the Nedha & going down the other side on complete scree & finally finding the cave after more than 3hrs, at the same place where we actually entered the fort, just few yards off the gate was an awesome experience !!! The delicious noodles @ night & the record breaking descend without a single food break in the entire 2.5hrs !! An unsuspecting Hatti horrified to find 3-4kg stones in her bag @ Kasara station which had been stoved away in her bag long back @ Shendi, during Her Kolha Hunting break !!

June 2007 introduced Me to Death on Dhak Bahiri...
Me & Nikhil climbed up the entire way up Dhak Bhairi from the rock patch & dry waterfall. 200feet from the cave, I missed the route only to get caught up on a vertical patch with no where to go. No way Up & no place to touch down on a 800ft of vertical rock !!! Nikhil's vision under My legs & My daring to come down 3 feet, body grazing the vertical rock with no support at all is My definition of Near Death experience !!

Gorakhgad part 2 followed- The biggest example of extreme climate change in a matter of seconds & the contrast of it within just 3-4kms across the top of Gorakh is what Me & Nikhil enjoyed, while all the others kept stuttering @ the rock base itself !!! A run down the vertical steps for a final show down with the approaching battery of cloud & rain was an absolutely Adrenaline Pumping experience.

June '07 saw Me miss the 1st edition of 1day Kalsubai trek.
I missed a few more treks in 2007 due to some flop reasons given by My medical advisor. In one of those treks to Harishchandragad, Amruta Khadilkar aka Bombti shouted Her way in the group while Hatti created the Famous "Me kuthe jau ata" scene !!! Hahahahaaa... rather she has many such scenes to Her credit including tha famous one @ Gorakhgad where She spent more than 20mins just figuring out how to get down !!! The actual descend actually took just a min!!!
2008 March produced one of the worst energy sapping treks of all time. Kulanggad- The Highest Vertical climb in Maharashtra drained everybody. The lost route, the frantic search for a new one & the trace back, took a Major toll on Me. Climbing @ the bottom of the group, I stopped some 300feet from the top. With Pavan accompanying Me, His Vertigo accompanying Him, it wasn't a pretty sight as We straggled our way to the top. I had posed stiller than a scare crow on more than a single occasion on that sweat drenching, stone carved structure !! I felt the fear of heights for the 1st time on descend & got caught out on a number of occasions, the worst being handing over My sack to Sushant on a patch where He Himself got down with 2 sacks on & just on His legs, while I struggled even on Fours without any load..

After having missed the 1st edition of Peb killa, i joined in the second time. A group of non GOs had also come this time around- Nikhil's friends precisely. They never bothered to come back on a trek with the GOs!!! Mind you, only 3-4 of the normal GOs were enough to ward them off coming with us. Imagine all of them together.

Sudhagad was the 1st proper rain trek in 2008 which unfortunately I missed, but it introduced a temporary Hatti replacement in the form of Tany's friend. Tany introduced a new form of Golf which involves the use of a wooden stick which directly hits the grassy ground to erupt the topmost layer of Soil to slingshot it almost 10feet across !!! Fun as always :P

Sarasgad which saw the highest number of Girls ever in GO History was GOOed upon in heavy rain 2008. While the initial attempt to hit the top got foiled due to rains & pitch darkness, We soon realized in the morning that the abort decision proved Good. There was no shelter @ the top !!! The biting Mosquitoes were equally hopeless & the base, but then who gets a chance to wrap Your legs with Your Female friend's Speckless White scarf !!! The descend brougt to fore the concept of PACHAK. Pachak is the art of jumping in poodles of water & Chikkhal/Kichad in such a manner that all around Us get the Natural gift. ( It doesn't matter if You yourself get dirty :P ) if I remember right, P1 was @ the receiving end of most of My attacks though I made sure that all were dirtified !!!

I hit a dead end for sometime after 17Aug '08 after my freak jump ruptured My right Knee ACL. Trek to Naneghat followed in this period, while I managed a night out even with a plaster on My leg @ Chiu's place !!

26th Jan '10 was the day on which i finally decided enough was enough with my exile. A single day Trek to Manikgad, with a new Person who is now a permanent Member of GOs who got introduced to GO style treks if not the group itself. Formerly Ashwini Rane, now Ashwini Rane Karmarkar had a taste of what a grand experience it is to trek with the GOs
Manik trek famously labelled SHEE trek was left unconquered by GOs. Something which had never occured earlier had hit the GOs. But GOs did strike back, completing the trek 2 weeks later, ascending from 1 side & descending down the other. Sumit Kane & Aniket Kharadkar had been with the GOs @ 1st Peb also, but it was on Manik that I met them for the 1st time. Sumit met during the 1st attempt on Manik while Aniket met on the 2nd. The 2 Junior most members are always in for an Adventure.

Malanggad in April was a welcome change in terms of the Scene seen from atop the mountain. Heavy White clouds all settled down giving a Majestic experience after what had been a drenching climb even @ night 0330hrs !!!
Yes this so called DCH or 3 Idiots or whatever it may be called Trek started with Me, Nik & Tany buzzing off My car @ 0230hrs. The steps ensured a continous climb till we 3 literally stopped to drain the sweat of our bodies!! Even in My shorts & sando, I was sweating like a pig ;) The shortest trek ever ended inside 9.5hrs to & fro my house.

Torna, just Torna repeated itself during the rains of 2009. A 48hr extravaganza under the influence of rains. Hahaha, what a Bonanza it turned out to be !! All the GOs except yet to be introduced Sujata, Ajit enjoyed the bonanza. Right from Sweetie Pie to Aloo Bhusssjiya to drying the temple premises for which I spread CaCO3 powder under My flex sheet to Stealing Bombti's Tee & let it hang on the Temple ceiling to GO planning of giving Me Goat shit by showing it as Avla Supari, all was grand !! Btw this Temple premises was supposed to be as big as a toilet as per Nikhil for the large part of time from Dec 2005 to June 2009 !!! This was the belief held true by all of the GOs by trusting Nikhil & on which pretext He never discussed Torna as a possible trek spot. Finally the Jinx broke & we had 1 awesome of a trek !! A trek where Hatti & specially Bombti created new slipping records. Bombti on her behalf finally sprained her ankle half way down the descend. This was followed after me & Nikhil made sure that Her clear white pant was red in colour by applying red soil all over Her!! Not to forget the Grand Kundugiri while on the ascend & Sumit's 2hrs escapade from the group. Nikhil successfully attempted pissing in a plastic bottle which He had shoved up his track pant- all this on the last seat of the public transport bus while returning. I obviously took My revenge by recording it all. A revenge for having recorded some seconds of My private Potty time :P ( For all those who are getting weird ideas, both the videos have nothing but explicit language. No inappropriate Video has been captured :P) for the 1st time, the GOs even had McDonalds stuff while on a trek. All thanks to Hatti for listening to my advice of using Her Sodexho coupons & then finally getting the flak of- How could have she listened to me !!! Instead of enjoying the mini meal, all were hell bent on badgering my advice & Hatti decision !!!

Kau, Chiu, Adi, Sumit, Me, Nikhil & the newest addition named Sujata hit Gorakh yet another time. For the 1st time ever Nikhil had his own food, his own bedsheet, plate, spoon etc etc. Basically whatever is needed by an individual on a trek. We wondered if there was even a table & a Valet folded inside to do all the work !!! Sujata Maiyya ki Jai ho :P
For the 2nd time with the GOs I descended all alone after summiting the top which is above the cave level. This is also the trek where Sujata realised that She had to seriously compete for Nik with Kau !!!
Apparently the cooking Stove went missing after this trek. All GOs pondered on all possibilities of finding the stove including the idea of Sujata having carried it all the way to Pune :P

The much anticipated Kulang part 2 came to effect in Dec'09. The rule was simple- DO NOT SPLIT UNDER ANY CONDITION. This was derived w.r.t. the scenes that occurred the last time whenever the group split on the trek to Kulang, be it in the train or even on the mountain. This time around it was also the so called Honeymoon trek for Nik & Suj !! Kau was hell bent to spoil it all, continuing his antics from Gorakh trek. A little village propped up in the cave of Kulang owing to the long weekend of Christmas. The descend started @0630hrs to end approximately 6.5hrs later @ 1300hrs !! Sumit & Ani had had a bath, took the wrong route on multiple occasions & yet reached 2.5hrs early !! Sumit alone might have just hit Pune by the time we descended !!! My 1st time fear on this Mammoth of a mountain vanished this time around. The ascend was a bit cautious, while the descend was a breeze. I also happened to have created the most hilarious scenes in GO history by descending some part of the rock patch wearing my tee n 2 undies, worn 1 over the other & front side back. This seems as an ultimate disaster for everyone but the GOs had their fair share of fun. Also the fact that it was cold & shivering for most of them & I dripping like a pig even in that skimpy outfit was a thing to laugh about !!

Jump to the rains of 2010- The GOs hurdled the Roadblock left uncrossed last time. Chanderi which is 2nd nearest spot from our Home town finally saw the GOs GO Yellow :P
Something unseen before happens in the form of a Snake Bit to Nikhil's right toe. Fortunately even a Female Bamboo Pit Viper couldn't do much do dampen Our trek. This trek also gave the the Best Spot for Kundugiri ever. 3hrs in the same spot enjoying the light flow of crystal clear cold water with just the right amount of depth to soak our bodies !! Add the so called Erotic attempts of Mr. Grumpy & Mrs. Not so Grumpy to create some atrocious poses in water, added a light humour considering the use of term- Pani Bharaychay (Filling Water)

Night-overs have been a constant part of GO life. Making life miserable for neighbours by the usual GO antics, going out on bikes @ 0300hrs to grab a Vada-Pav & Shev-Bhaji, watching movies on a 5.1 home theatre @ 0400hrs & what not...!!! Be it @ Kau's place, My, Nik's or even P1's new home, it's always Havoc !! Peeing off the terraces of buildings or even the Gallery is what GOs specialize in !!! Squeezing 10 GOs on a 6x6 double bed ( inclusive of Hatti & Tany ) is a stunning feat regularly achieved.

Ashwini-Pavan, Anuja-Ajit, Archana-Kaustubh & finally Amruta-Suhas have got married in the past 14months starting a new phase in their lives..
I won't GO more in this section since this is about the GO Journey, a Journey joined by the Love of Treks !!!
Almost 6years in this Journey, the fairytale is slowly Fading in an unintended but circumstantial slow down.....
The GOs Trekkers have finally become social....

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P.S. – Whatever I’ve missed in, whatever maybe the corrections, C&C invited !!

A Damsel so Sweet :)

A Damsel so Sweet :)
After the usual Monday Blues & a boring Boss talk which pushed Me in 10mins of overtime, I scraggled My way to the bus stop. With My usual bus gone & the delay increasing, it just meant addition to My woes. As I perched Myself roadside, My motion detectors caught a Glimpse of Baby Pink across the other side. It wasn't animated though. Having scouted the whole road in My vision, I turned the other way in Search of Red. Baby Pink blurred past yet again instead. Now My field of view definitely straightened. Nothing special was My 1st thought on the sight of Pink & Blue standing meek... Pretty I thought & again made a insane face looking at My watch. Staring back up, I could now see some movement, the same like while I was scouting. The sight was just normal- A Dame looking for some mode of transport. As empty rickshaws passed, I waited for some private vehicle to stop by & render My sight to the back old boring view. But it never happened. My eye locked on to 4metres @ F1.8+Bulb, Aim constrained like in Maya, the Figure in Pink tee & Blue jeans being the controller!! There wasn't anything spectacular about the sight except for those Light brown eyes speaking her emotions. Even She was waiting for Red is what I inferred. My students passed by asking for my contact number. The constraint weighed zero for some moments as I shooed away My students. As My vision focus went from zero to infinity, the pink sight was gone only to be detected to My left in a second. I dared not to turn, instead expecting a Red sight across the road. No, nothing in red even now & finally My head turned left. A quick glance & the sweetest of smiles greeted Me. Even My lips Curved up :)
I didn't know why She crossed the road inspite of being in the shade on the other side. Eye contact was obviously inherent by now. Few glances & some vibrating moments later came the softest of Female voices. The only exchange of words followed-
"will this bus go to andheri station?"
"yes, it will" ( not sure which bus She was referring to. Thankfully both the buses on that route conform to My answer. )
The bus was yet to enter horizon. The nerves had settled finally & the frequent glance was no more in hiding. As the bus came in sight, we stuttered our way, stopping a time or two to let vehicles pass by. Stepping my way up the bus just behind her, I knew this was the start of the end of this Cute little romance !! Few seats apart & with no opportunity for another glance meant almost the end. She definitely glanced back once though, smiling sweet & wanting another assurance of the Only words I spoke. A small tilt of the head & curving lips served her purpose. As the crowd filled up the gangway, vision was lost as My Aim constraint was weighed on by the scribble that You are reading now....
The last stop was nothing but a mere pink sight walking by as I frantically made My way to cut through the crowd in vain...
Pink never looked so Pretty neither did tied hair.. Sometimes we face instances in life we never forget. This wasn't anything spectacular by any means, yet has left an indelible carving in My head. The last time this happened was 56 months back, in the Air in the midst of clouds. That time I got to her name circumstantially...
Even this time I definitely would've liked to atleast know Her name, but I guess the romance lives in the fact that I write this because I don't know that same reality !!
This is Me signing off-
BEST bus no. 252, Beauty Gurus stop, 4 Bungalows, Versova, Andheri west, Mumbai.

Painting the Light

Painting the Light..
Andheri stn. 1730hrs
People from all walks of societies, jobs & unknown entities assemble daily @ this point of time. Doctors, Engineers, Sales Guys, Tutors, Bankers, Softies (Software Engineers), Artists, Accountants, Insurance Agents, Beggars (Yes, this is a Profession in Mumbai), Lawyers, Hoteliers, Businessmen & so on comprising all the service category... Yes I am one of them & so we stand there on platform no. 5 waiting for a fast local back home. I obviously have to change to another train on My way back, but this is the day's end for almost everyone. Not Me, it's the start for Me...

As the train arrives, there is this push-pull of all the commuters to get in a favorable position inside the bogie. Mind You there is hardly any room to sit inside, the shoulder jabs are just to get near the opposite door so that alighting @ Dadar is quick & near the FOB !!! Again I am one of them... Door side position cemented & almost everybody are plugged back again by their earphones (Music, Masti to the rescue... ), some people munching on their favourite chips or fried stuff (name that Vada Pav!! ), My iTouch never got unplugged off My ear & even I'm Hungry.. As the train gushes by the cool wind, refreshing the body from the humidity stricken & sticky climate, it feels a completely different world.. “ Sorry Dear”, “Abe uski toh..”, “yetoy ghari”, “market mast mein Chad raha hai”, “My boss is a nut-head” ( All Bosses are :p, hope mine isn't reading..), “crossing Dadar” ( in reality it's nearing Santacruz :P) etc etc are the dialogues heard & which loop themselves almost daily on this train journey. “Bandra utroge ??” People are pushed aside as Hooligans rush inside the moving train across the platform. 1 step any otherside & You are bound to swipe the sweat off a fellow passenger!! As ‘Waka Waka..’ comes to an end, I'm gettin ready to alight, backpack tucked to the body, iTouch & E63 held firmly & I'm off the train exactly in front of the FOB. As the mad rush begins again, I'm already half the staircase up, climbing as fast as I can. I'm gunning for a Window seat Glory in the Kalyan bound Dadar local !! But so are many others besides Me. The train honks & suddenly the FOB seems an eternity away from the staircase leading to the platform. As the lace on My shoe goes flying, the sack gets flinged across & My shirt tucks out of My jeans, I scramble across like a PAC-MAN running away from those dreaded Aunties blocking the complete staircase. I am now running faster than the oncoming train!!! It's as if I'm trying to save Myself from an oncoming Tsunami. Few others have performed the same Juggernaut as Me & settled near their usual positions. 3 bogies & 1 more PAC-MAN puzzle later I'm ready to jump inside the train to get The Ohhh So Holy Window seat!!! I take a bow to Myself for having achieved this feat yet again today. A college Dude seems to have complimented himself for the same & I guess Many others!!

This is all where it starts to change for Me. While Necks droop with the day's exhaustion & the Warmth of their Houses is what all others yearn for, I freshen up. I always do, usually in anticipation of meeting the Girl in My life or then, like minded Friends who are up for a Zestful time after the boring office day. (Yes, Office is eventually boring, however your work maybe exciting...) Sometimes I even bother to burn the touch-screen of My device like as today & as yet another simple & unassuming post for My blog gets ready to be churned out, I ponder over the Task @ Hand. Today I'm up for something new. A Hobby which seems to have struck as a Passion, calls for some serious thought. Yes I'm done with the Thinking & this is what will spell the Start of The Day's end for Me.

... Here I am, all charged up, Hoping that My eye never fails Me in Framing the right thing @ the right moment.
I want to Paint & I want to Paint the Light…
Snap, Copy, Composite…
:D

Love, Lingerie & ........

If Love is blind, then why is Lingerie sooo popular ??? ;)
This SMS racked My Gray cells thoroughly, but not for long.
It's difficult to digest that something which is seen only in Private & that too not for long, is an extremely important Form of Erotica. (My thought)
Google is always Helpful. Search a little intelligently & the answer is ready, not just ready but with a brilliant impact...!!!! I was completely mesmerised frankly speaking after seeing what a proper pair of Lingerie could change in a woman than in something not so proper sizes/shapes. Now obviously, what I express here is completely opinionates the Boy side, more so My side !!!
It's incredible to know the amount of Technology goes in Lingerie business !!! And You thought that only Computers progress !!!
Obviously Technology impresses Me a lot & applying it to Lingerie further increased My urge to Google something more. I understood that The "BRASSIERE" just completed a century of invention some time back and what changes it has undergone!!
From the Basic functionality of supporting the breasts 100yrs ago to the added Responsibility of creating erotica, to creating illusions, to a fashion statement, to being the topic of jealously in Women is no mean achievement. The Human Being has undergone evolution for centuries to be what He is today. The BRA has achieved lots more in just a century. Mind you that it doesn't its own sense to evolve !! Also to consider that it's got it's own varieties in the form of Maximisers ( The Wonder Bra), Sports Bras, Nursing ones, Full cups, Demi Cups, Strapless, Seamless & quite a few others, it really shows that much Brain has been applied into this. Obviously every pattern is made for a specific purpose & only the proper size serves that purpose. A wrong pattern inside a contrasting pair of outer outfit can be horrible !!! A proper size is generally given by the formula "[(##a)-(##b+4 or 5)]=(##b+4 or 5)a-b" while the proper pattern is Best left for the wearer to decide depending on the occasion & few other Physiological & Logical factors :P
Now the BRA is just one of the entity when we consider the word Lingerie. Garter, Halter, Stockings, Panties, Corset, Bustier, Thong, G-String, Robes, Gowns, Gel Pouches, Baby Dolls etc etc are the various things that come to the front when the Prohibited word is discussed in detail. Again Lingerie on the whole has various categories such as Bridal & Honeymoon, Formal, Casual, Sporty, Picnic wear (Bikini) with sub categories for each of them :P
Even though My thorough search led Me to few other interesting details such as finding the proper sizes & stuff, I wouldn't want to get on with the details. That's for every individual Girl, Women to decide for Herself. In regards to this, an interesting statistic for Women Round the world shows up- 70% of Women are Wearing the wrong sizes as of April 2010. That's a huge number considering our Primary statement of Lingerie being popular!! Another bad conclusion for these 70% of Women is what Science concludes in the form of Ill-Effects caused due to wrong sizes & Measurements. Skin diseases such as Rashes, Worms, and Tissue Damage are some very common things. On the worse side lie problems such as Back pains, Wrong Lactation, the worst being even Breast Cancer. You could easily say that if there is something upsetting about a certain outfit then the Inner thing is contributing heavily to it !! On most common occasions is seen the use of heavily Seamed Undies digging in the skin, inside a pair of fitting trousers. Not only does it look bad, but it even destroys the Grace of that Trouser. This was the pattern created fault. There could also be heavy Colour Blunders such as Heavy contrast with a semi Transparent pair of outers, unless You happen to be on a picnic/beach !!
On the contrast, the proper match can help maintain Natural posture, give a refined look to Your body & help support the much needed Body tissues without creating extra Body Contours caused by digging in the skin !! On the outside it won't spoil the look of Your outfit, rather give it a better flow & meaning.
A proper Minimiser won't allow a Formal shirt to split from across its buttons while a maximiser will give a Nice Fuller look when wearing something skin tight for that same person. This basically explains that wearing the proper thing but wearing it inside a proper outfit is equally important. You can't be using a single pattern for every occasion/outfit.
Going onto the original matter of being Popular, the fact that it sells, the fact that so much has gone into it proves that it is popular.
Leaving aside all the other benefits, I'll stick with the Love is Blind part of it. Other than the proper kind of Lingerie worn, I think the colour theory also has its part to play here !!! The White resembles a Peaceful mind, the Skin shades give a Mystic look, Pink is 'ohhh, sooo Cute stuff' & while the Black oodles a Sexy/ Smart/ Universal feeling the Red gives a Hot/ Mysterious/ Wild look. There are obviously many colours available of which I don't know the details :P
The material used is also another distinctive point- Cotton, Nylon, Lycra, die-cast polymers, lace & many synthetics. Just the use of different material could transform a Busty Babe to a Flat Bimbette or even Vice versa !!! Take for instance, something from the Speedo/Arena closet which can put even Salma Hayek to Shame or then a Classic Deep Plunge Underwired Maximiser from Victoria's Secret, LaSenza or a Valisere which could Bootyfully enhance even Keira Knightley!! ;)
Now with so Much variety to choose from for Women & so much to oodle @ for Men, why wouldn't Lingerie be popular??
Talking about Love, it's the Erotic part which is Rejuvenated when something like above happens!! It's not just the Size, but a Secretive Hidden Pattern that a Raunchy Lingerie set could create without even Baring all apart !! Again, the timing & occasion has to be equally Precise, else it can backfire too.
Yet another aspect of this is the Cost Factor. From what I could gather, even a simple 2 piece bikini set could cost You a bomb or even the daily stuff could cost you more than the outfit itself !! Is it worth the money?? Some might have a negative thought over spending this much, more so with cheaper unassuming alternatives available !!! From what I gather, it certainly is worth the Wealth just not only in terms of Romance, but also Comfort, Aesthetics, Medical benefits & Longevity.
I guess I could become a Lingerie Salesman cum Counsellor cum Analyst cum Designer by now!! Me being a 3D artist could help Me a lot in Designing & Aesthetics part !!! :P
Just drifting aside to call the shots on Men's stuff now. Though it isn't that popular ( I'm a guy, maybe it's popular with the Girl side !! ) & neither is being termed Lingerie, it definitely is equally Agreeable that the proper fit has it's own benefits. Some Guys are obviously obsessed with the Undies that they own & are even proud to show it off in some cases !! The branded elastic imprinted with Jockey, Hanes, Tommy, Chromozome is a point of discussion & Envy between Guys. Cost obviously doesn't sky rocket in comparison to the Female analogous, with 1:3 or 1:4 being the approximate price ratio between Mars & Venus !! Obviously, Popularity has a big hand in maintaining this difference.
After having put forward something very Unusual especially for a Guy & more so especially for Me, I would like to ask all the offended to not loose their temper over this. I may have missed something or even everything, but considering My Gender stats I'm convinced that I'm in knowledge of what I should know, something which I refrain to speak here !!!
To all the others who found this Amusing/ Explicit/ Raunchy/ Informative/ Shameless/ Intuitive/ Inspiring/ Awful/ Enlightening/ Rotten, You are Welcome !!
Thanks for Reading the Girl Stuff from a Guy's Point of View..
Comments Welcome ;)
By the way, it might be proved that Love is Blind, but Lust surely isn't & hence the Popularity !!! Who understands this better than Agent Provocateur !!!! Kylie Minogue rocked few years back :D She literally did..

COMPUTER

COMPUTER
So how many of Us use this piece of Technological shit to make life easier? The answer maybe NO directly, but indirectly Computers are strewn every where. For Me, anything which can compute & process is a Computer.
Coming to the general usage of the word-
Everybody Loves to have a personal computer & yes they are available real cheap today. Getting a general purpose computer is as simple as buying vegetables, though a bit costly than them. But rest assured that you will find a computer for your needs starting @ just 10000bucks INR.
So what do you do? Just pop in a local computer shop, get hold of a pamphlet mentioning some samples & pick the one which The Shopkeeper feels is best for your budget !! This is exactly where it all goes wrong...
"You know, I just got some 2.8ghz Intel Processor with 4gb of fast RAM & 320gb hard disk with a 17" LCD !! "
Hahaha.. I hear this kind of things sooo often & I laugh every time.
1. The config. Is usually shit for the kind of price it is brought at.
2. The components used are terribly hopeless. By this I mean the extras such as Keyboard, cabinet, PSU etc etc.
"Hey, I even got a 5.1 surround sound speaker with that.. "
These supposedly surround sound speakers are then usually
Stacked up one on another & kept in a single place by the user. Loll @ waste of money !!
Coming back to the original config- how many understand that 2.6 GHz is actually 2.6gigahertz & that it's not the only factor that defines the performance of your pc.
How many of Us actually use that gigantic amount of Memory(RAM) installed??
Well I don't blame the end user for the innocence in this matter. It's the shopkeepers which are making the maximum profit owing to the negligence of common man. It certainly doesn't mean that the shopkeepers are well versed with the actual performance thingy & the right component selection. The shopkeeper usually works on max. Profit margin basis. He doesn't care about what people are using!!
Shopkeepers are mostly idiots themselves. When 800mhz RAM is the fastest, Intel is the best, ATI is non- existent, iball beats Coolermaster & Logitech, then you come to know that it's nothing but selling PCs and making money without any damn knowledge about it.
Take for instance the best shopkeeper in My town who exclaimed to me that GSkill is a non-existent brand & that Corsair is a hopeless piece of RAM manufacturer when I happened to show Him My pair of DDR2 Dominator. For the people who don't know what's this- it was then the 2nd fastest Piece of memory that existed, having multiple records & patents on its name !!!
Well this was all about the NOOB category !!
Now the semi knowledgeable people-
Yes they know that Clock speeds are important along with no. of cores, Cache, as also all other components in the pc.
They might not know all, but certainly will make proper enquiries before getting a PC & get it assembled as per personal specs. No flop 5.1 speakers, blingy iball mice & keyboards, circle cabinets & intex earphones !!
They will keep the interior of their cabinets clean, airy & properly ventilated. The LCD isn't covered with an idiotic plastic sheet & is cleaned using proper Liquids, not simply water on a cloth!! A proper UPS & a Real Spike Guard protects the worthy investment.
Installing an OS as well as other stuff isn't a problem for these people. Maintaining updated anti-virus & managing the firewall also isn’t an issue for these people. Yes they always TRY & get the best possible performance from the PC & utilize it optimally. Somehow they still fall short when it comes to getting the complete juice from the PC.
Knowledgeable Genre-
Some software tweaks, registry edits, trying with OS other than Windows base, something like Ubuntu or even getting hacked drivers to install Leopard OS X is always on the mind of these semi Geeks. Bandwidth, Latencies are terms which are perfectly understood & implemented.
The enthusiasts-
Now I know that this word has a totally different meaning in the real computer world. But My definition of computer users has been completely different as you see...!!!
"Remove the side panel man, short that yellow jumper on the last pins & restart after plugging in the mains.."
Now this was just a simple example of what goes on when an experiment goes horribly wrong while Overclocking the processor...!!!!
Vcore, VDimm, PLL, GTLref, FSB, HT, QPI, Latencies, Frequencies, VDroop, Multiplier, Tj, 3D Mark Vantage, Super Pie, Prime95, MS Startup, BSOD, Spread Spectrums, Screen Freeze, Linpack, Lapping, TIM, CFM, Static Pressure, Watts, Amperes, Rails, APFC, 80+, Bandwidth, Modding, CFL, LED Lamps, Air Flow, Efficiency, FPS, Pressure Fittings, SLI-CFX, LQ, Water Block, Radiator, Tubings, Vmod, North/South bridge, IHS, HSF, Raid, Raptors
Are some of the terms, heard by & large from these people..
Many of these are many a times Geek even to the Knowledgeable!!!
Trying to pinch out every single drop of Juice from their Computers by running them in some Audacious manner, competing to beat timings to the fraction of a second, setting new benchmarks, becoming tense due to rising temps & yet keeping the Voltages rising, creating a horror scene for others by assembling everything right on the table- all uncovered !!!
"Dude, you need some Liquid on that boiler man!!"
A common dialogue refereeing to the use of High end Liquid cooling on the CPU/GPU in case of high clocks & even higher temperatures !!
"Why don't you use a table fan instead of those tiny Deltas? They anyways sound equally horrible!!!" This refers to the sound of radiator & HS fans
Running Utilities like Linpack, Prime no. Algorithms, Everest on various settings & getting the Overclock stable is all that is on the mind of these Kind of PC users..
Consider a Dual Hex Nehalem clocked @ 4.2GHz on Dual Danger-Den LQ kit consisting of Swiftech Apogee water block, a Triple 120mm Radiator, with 12Gigabyte Corsair Dominator GT @ 2GHz, Dual Asus Ares GPUs, Xonar STX, Xeno Killer Pro. Put this all on an EVGA SR2 Classified & Mount in one of the Hugest Mountain Mod or the Only LianLi cabinet. Supplement it with Patriot 64 GB SSD, 2 x 300 GB Velociraptors in Raid 1 & 2Tb Seagate Momentus for Data storage. Optiarc Blu-Ray burner, Nzxt Sentry to add to the wow factor, Logitech G19, Razer Mamba, Sennheiser Audiophile Headsets. Add in personal accessories as Per Your Liking..!!!
All powered up by a Tagan BZ1.3kW on an APC Smart 2kVA UPS.
Logitech Z5500 can Power up the Sound Quotient, while a Dell Ultra Sharp 30" IPS Panel will duly provide the Visual Treat.
Considering this Consideration will cost more than 12k USD, it is obvious that it's a rarity to find this kind of a Computer.
Add an nVidia Tesla Graphics Computing rack server for another 10k USD & You have your Own Personal CRAY Super Computer from Mid-Nineties
An Enthusiast can just dream of this, but will surely own some of these components.
As for Me,
My GO Q6600 Strides along, Overclocked 58% @ 3.8GHz actively cooled by a lapped TRUE with 2x Scythe S-Flex in push-pull.
Dominator chugs along @ 1.2GHz CL5 on a MSI P45 Platinum.
700/1200 MSI R4850 cooled by a TRad2 GTX with 2x TR fans, powers My graphics on a Viewsonic VG1930wm.
Seagate Free Agent Pro provides 500 GB of energy efficient storage while a Seagate 250 GB runs My OS. An Optiarc device churns out those 4.5 GB discs.
Housed in an Nzxt Apollo being lit up by a Dual CCFL kit & powered by a Tagan U37 600W PSU, My Beast still packs in a Punch even after 2 years of its life..
Hoping to see 4GHz clock on My display soon enough. LQ might just be on its way !!!
The Absolute Crack heads-
They are Emperors of this Geeky world who make the Enthusiast RIG possible. Not always the complete thing but then they approach SCRAM jets !!!
Liquid Nitrogen & Lately Liquid Helium is their Weapon for cooling & World Overclocking Benchmarks get shattered Regularly on their command !!
So, what category of PC user do You fit in??
Anyone Partnering a budding Enthusiast?? Screen Your BSOD, I'm in !!!

It's My Life !!!!

Life- the Biggest Prize Packet one can have.
Even though very late, I certainly have realised the above.
It's certainly wrong to say that this Unique Piece of Gift is Full of only good things.. but keeping in Mind that all those negative things have helped Me evolve as Abhishek Paranjape, I certainly don't regret facing them. What I feel unjust is their timing and the worst thing is that, few times it wasn't in My hands to time them to perfection. It was those times that led Me to mis-time the things which were totally in My hand. Well, I don't mind keeping a negative offset with the world. I have My own thinking, My own capability & My Own people to propel Me not just a step ahead, but 10 steps Ahead & UP.. It's the Up which is More important here..
There is No point in running ahead of the world @ all times. No matter how good a Marathon runner you are, Its important to stay on your feet even after the marathon.
I'm certainly not a good marathon runner, but I surely know how to keep up the same pace, long after the 42.1 kms are over & all others are even out of their reserves...!!!
I still remember that day in December '05 when Our Trek grp had a gruelling time traversing the whole of Torna, the Ridge & Rajgad. Carrying 2 trek sacks for well over 3hrs & supporting a fellow trekker, even down a 70deg Scree patch simultaneously, obviously isn't a Funny thing to do!!!
It was ~2330hrs, when all others were down & out, unable to even Have dinner, that I wandered Out in that 6-7 degrees of cold, winds in excess of 20nauts, wearing just the shortest of pants & a tee. I had cried profusely that time, but even in that grief, i could brave that cold, the energy drain that had sapped even the best & yet stay wide awake beside that talav on Rajgad, unknown to anyone !!!
Scores of times, I've faced lots of flak for carrying excessive amounts of water in My sack & everytime the same people have gone ahead & Used that water when in need.
There is nothing to boast about in this particular event. it just proved to Me lately that, I could rise above the rest when it really mattered. The confidence boost, the events of that day give is immense.. Very suddenly it flashed in front of My eyes, that I've failed to live upto Myself.
I don't know how I lost Myself, just kept on doing the things, unknowingly or unexpectedly, for the sake of not becoming Me..
Finding Myself @ a bigger offset to the advancing world, I sure know that I messed Up but I was even aided in depth for that !!!
This is the Aid I mentioned earlier, which wasn't in My hands.. How in the pretext of timely Aid, I got BANNED AID !!
A small but a Powerful Catapult promises Me to put Me back on pace for this never ending road race!!
Catalytically Aided by the conclusion of My earlier Writeup, I hope to see everybody soon on an even keel !!!
I will this time keep up the pace waiting for the time to hit the Nitro.
Inspite of all this I have lived My life to the fullest. I mean what have I not done??
Studied- got scholarship, Swam- got scholarship, enjoyed college life more than everybody, slept in lectures, faced flak, got appreciated, cleared UPSC exams twice (99th percentile), cleared PABT for fighter pilot, left general merit post-grad to pursue something unusual, working unusually as a Tutor on My own terms, earning ok enough, do treks whenever possible, drink & eat Lavishly to My Stomach's content, bloody even Shit & Fart to My Bum's content!! , roam aimlessly on the bike @ any damn location, made a Respectable name in my college, build Super Computers for Myself & make them run beyond their outstretched limits, roam around Mumbai in search of Anonymous Goods, doing photography @ will, enjoy the nature as it's meant to be enjoyed, staying online 24-7, enjoying being a Nocturnal, slept 20hrs a day as also staying put for more than 96hrs, upgrading My super computer :P, earn Money @ Will & spent it the same way, drawn Excellent Portraits, having the Best gadgets to move around with, enjoyed Friendship & even broke it, Tore My right Knee Ligament & moving on with a strapped knee even now, yet maintaining more than normal fitness, having a far Superior IQ & yet giving others the opportunity to laugh at Me, chat with people in 5 diverse time zones simultaneously & yet making sense with all of them, sleeping at odd times including office hrs, have a Girl Friend after breaking up with 1st, ability to write things I want & express in Public, keep a clear head in bad situation & come out good on numerous occasions, flirted wid certain Death on a trek, swam in the open sea for more than 8hrs, washed clothes @ 10k ft in freezing water as also defying many other high altitude attributes, travelled half My country, never wasted food even when full, faced Typhoid, helped friends when needed, always respected My Parents.......
Enjoy, sob, laugh, gossip, fight, flirt, apologise, trouble, get drunk, make fun off, love, feel it, hate to the core, take revenge, lend a shoulder, pull 1 when you need it, hug, get kissed, propose, get rejected, reject, shout, let Your silence speak, gossip, be selfish, be generous, empathise..... So Many Emotions & situations, yet never Greedy for anything nor run behind things like a Pace setter in the marathon. Isn't this enough for a person who was never 1st & yet has cumulatively Much Much more than the front runners...
I still don't bother on what ones have to say to Me, for what I believe in life is to live it the way I want to & not how others want Me to live. I define My Own success, My Own goals & achieve them, however erratic they may seem to others..
This is to My life & Hell, I am more than Satisfied with it. Everything that comes ahead is a Supreme Bonus to be accepted Gracefully & noted down in the Diary of Life !!!