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Top of Europe
Swiss Tours Part II
« Goto Swiss Tours Part I
We reached Interlaken quite late – especially by Switzerland standards – I should confess that it was quite scary to reach the youth hostel there, as it was in one secluded part of the town, and we had to walk through a road almost in the woods to reach it from the nearest bus stop.
We both are vegetarians and were well aware about the paucity of (vegetarian) edible food, so we had packed enough vegetables, wafers, bread and butter from Geneva for our survival. The hostel was well equipped, and we had a comfortable dinner and slept to rise early the next day!
The train to take us to Jungfraujoch was to leave Interlaken by 8 AM, so we woke up early – in fact we were up early enough to have time to look around the location of the youth hostel.
However, we got a little carried away, and got a bit late to catch our train. Fortunately, the platforms were quite low and we were able to jump our way to platform 2 to catch our train! The train had a guide, who told us about the journey ahead and about Jungfraujoch. On the way to Jungfraujoch, one needs to change the train at a station called Grindenwald – and look, what we saw there!
Anyway – the reason why one changes trains at Grindenwald is because the slope above this point is pretty steep and the train requires 3 tracks to climb – one additional teethed track in between to help the train generate enough traction!
The top of Europe – Jungfraujoch was enjoyable – my first tryst with snow and a wonderful experience. The major attraction up there were natural ice caves with ice sculpture and of course outdoor ice!
But more famously, this is the place where Sunny Paji’s – “The Hero” was shot and the building which is shown to be the terrorist hideout in the movie is actually an observatory atop the hill (where you cannot reach). The tourist section also houses a particle detector display which proves Einstien’s relativity.
On our way back from Jungfraujoch – we travelled till Grindenwald and then decided to hang on at the beautiful station for some time। We attempted a panoramic photo at Grindenwald। From Grindenwald to Interlaken there are two alternate tracks – we took the other one during our descent। We halted at another station – Grund - on our way and took a very nice photo of both of us – worthy of being a Windows XP wallpaper।
To be continued ...
We reached Interlaken quite late – especially by Switzerland standards – I should confess that it was quite scary to reach the youth hostel there, as it was in one secluded part of the town, and we had to walk through a road almost in the woods to reach it from the nearest bus stop.
We both are vegetarians and were well aware about the paucity of (vegetarian) edible food, so we had packed enough vegetables, wafers, bread and butter from Geneva for our survival. The hostel was well equipped, and we had a comfortable dinner and slept to rise early the next day!
The train to take us to Jungfraujoch was to leave Interlaken by 8 AM, so we woke up early – in fact we were up early enough to have time to look around the location of the youth hostel.
 |  |
However, we got a little carried away, and got a bit late to catch our train. Fortunately, the platforms were quite low and we were able to jump our way to platform 2 to catch our train! The train had a guide, who told us about the journey ahead and about Jungfraujoch. On the way to Jungfraujoch, one needs to change the train at a station called Grindenwald – and look, what we saw there!
Anyway – the reason why one changes trains at Grindenwald is because the slope above this point is pretty steep and the train requires 3 tracks to climb – one additional teethed track in between to help the train generate enough traction!
To enlarge Images, click them  |  |
The top of Europe – Jungfraujoch was enjoyable – my first tryst with snow and a wonderful experience. The major attraction up there were natural ice caves with ice sculpture and of course outdoor ice!
 |  |
On our way back from Jungfraujoch – we travelled till Grindenwald and then decided to hang on at the beautiful station for some time। We attempted a panoramic photo at Grindenwald। From Grindenwald to Interlaken there are two alternate tracks – we took the other one during our descent। We halted at another station – Grund - on our way and took a very nice photo of both of us – worthy of being a Windows XP wallpaper।
To be continued ...
5 days, 9 places and 3.5 GB snaps
[Swiss Tours Part I]
I have never actually written in detail about my trip to Switzerland. Today, as I was idly browsing through my Photos collected during the UK trip, I discovered that more than half of the collection came from my 5 day trip to Switzerland. Indeed, those 5 days were the most enjoyable part of my 6 month sojourn! Adventurous as it was, I guess it is important that this blog has some record of the trip!
Hemant was already stationed in Geneva when I reached London, and so the idea of planning a Swiss trip together sprouted right away – just the dates were an issue. Soon, we had finalized dates around end of July and the planning for the trip started around mid July. Both of us did online researches about places to visit, Hemant also interacted with some colleagues in Geneva for the details.
Our “tech savvy-ness” reached new heights when we used MS Powerpoint to document and discuss route maps, train timetables and tourist attractions. The result – by the time I was boarding the plane to Geneva – a detailed plan of the tour was almost ready, replete with appropriate buffer times between different cities.
Optimistically speaking, my trip started quite adventurously – and my entry into Switzerland in the wee hours of morning on 26th July was quite dramatic [1] [2].
Deprived of any sleep during the night, I had to drop my plan to spend the full day seeing Geneva (alone, as Hemant had office) and catch a few winks till noon. Thereafter, I roamed outside experiencing the comfort of trams in Geneva and enjoyed the scenic Geneva lake, the beautiful city and other beautiful sights [;-)] in the city.
By evening, I was back to Hemant’s place, so was he (from office) and we rushed through our packing and ran for the Railway station to catch the train to Interlaken.
To be continued ...
Hemant was already stationed in Geneva when I reached London, and so the idea of planning a Swiss trip together sprouted right away – just the dates were an issue. Soon, we had finalized dates around end of July and the planning for the trip started around mid July. Both of us did online researches about places to visit, Hemant also interacted with some colleagues in Geneva for the details.
Our “tech savvy-ness” reached new heights when we used MS Powerpoint to document and discuss route maps, train timetables and tourist attractions. The result – by the time I was boarding the plane to Geneva – a detailed plan of the tour was almost ready, replete with appropriate buffer times between different cities.
Optimistically speaking, my trip started quite adventurously – and my entry into Switzerland in the wee hours of morning on 26th July was quite dramatic [1] [2].
Deprived of any sleep during the night, I had to drop my plan to spend the full day seeing Geneva (alone, as Hemant had office) and catch a few winks till noon. Thereafter, I roamed outside experiencing the comfort of trams in Geneva and enjoyed the scenic Geneva lake, the beautiful city and other beautiful sights [;-)] in the city.
By evening, I was back to Hemant’s place, so was he (from office) and we rushed through our packing and ran for the Railway station to catch the train to Interlaken.
To be continued ...
LONDON - 1
My 6 month sojourn of London is finally coming to an end – about this time next week I will be at the Sahar Airport, Mumbai. Time to recap thoughts that have crossed and perceptions that have been crystallized in my mind about London as a city, UK as a country both compared to my motherland and some of the other places I saw (Swiss).
The moment you step out of the Heathrow what strikes you most is the views that loom around you - manicured lawns, roads marked with lanes, numerous flyovers and tunnels and organized boundaries. However slowly as you settle down in the city – you start noticing the cons and more subtle pros. As an 'Indian' the easiest thing to expect is that 'foreign' is a completely superlative experience to India – in that respect the biggest learning from this visit is that not everything in the west is superlative and that India has certain qualities that stand out!
Anyway – this post (probably a multi part one) is about London/UK; let me come back London. London is a superbly multicultural society – British, Americans, Caribbeans, Africans, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, East Asians, East Europeans, Russians, Australians . . . you name it and they are here.
About Indians in London I have theory, on any given weekday, if you are standing anywhere in Central London during the day, you can spot at least one Indian (looking) face in each of the four directions. The good part – an Indian will never feel lost here; the bad part – you never feel like having come to a foreign land.
Another part is that it is only on coming to London you realise the many nationalities that Indian's can come in! I am not referring to cultures – Marathis, Tamilians, Bengalis etc – no! I mean nationalities – yes … you have Kenyan Indians, South African Indians, American Indians, Singaporean Indians, Nepalese Indians, Australian Indians, ... and of course British Indians.
You meet these different nationalities of Indians everywhere in London – the shopkeepers on Tube Stations, the person beside you in the train, the colleague sitting behind you, the neighbour you meet on your way to office, and even the Taxi Driver who speaks in Gujarati as soon as you tell him you work in Mumbai :-).
Add to these the Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Maldevians, Nepalese and Pakistanis – and you get a city reverberating with Indian symbolisms, where Diwali felt no different than in Mumbai – crackers bursting till the wee hours of the morning; where Chicken Tikka is a regular meal; where Bollywood songs are as popular as Britney Spears ...
And what do I like most about this abundance of Indianness? Not that it's abundant – but the fact that irrespective of who it is – they love India! Yes, I have had each nationality (Indian origin or not) tell me that they adore India – some like it for Bollywood songs (no love is lost even if they don't understand Hindi), some for the people (those who have been there), some for its natural beauty (treckers, hikers), some for its religion (Hare Rama-Hare Krishna cult followers), and some for its unblemished political record.
Ummm … I seem to have drifted away from London again and this post has alreadyv become quite long … so let me do one thing … let me make another post and this time I will make it point to stick to London.
The moment you step out of the Heathrow what strikes you most is the views that loom around you - manicured lawns, roads marked with lanes, numerous flyovers and tunnels and organized boundaries. However slowly as you settle down in the city – you start noticing the cons and more subtle pros. As an 'Indian' the easiest thing to expect is that 'foreign' is a completely superlative experience to India – in that respect the biggest learning from this visit is that not everything in the west is superlative and that India has certain qualities that stand out!
Anyway – this post (probably a multi part one) is about London/UK; let me come back London. London is a superbly multicultural society – British, Americans, Caribbeans, Africans, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, East Asians, East Europeans, Russians, Australians . . . you name it and they are here.
About Indians in London I have theory, on any given weekday, if you are standing anywhere in Central London during the day, you can spot at least one Indian (looking) face in each of the four directions. The good part – an Indian will never feel lost here; the bad part – you never feel like having come to a foreign land.
Another part is that it is only on coming to London you realise the many nationalities that Indian's can come in! I am not referring to cultures – Marathis, Tamilians, Bengalis etc – no! I mean nationalities – yes … you have Kenyan Indians, South African Indians, American Indians, Singaporean Indians, Nepalese Indians, Australian Indians, ... and of course British Indians.
You meet these different nationalities of Indians everywhere in London – the shopkeepers on Tube Stations, the person beside you in the train, the colleague sitting behind you, the neighbour you meet on your way to office, and even the Taxi Driver who speaks in Gujarati as soon as you tell him you work in Mumbai :-).
Add to these the Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Maldevians, Nepalese and Pakistanis – and you get a city reverberating with Indian symbolisms, where Diwali felt no different than in Mumbai – crackers bursting till the wee hours of the morning; where Chicken Tikka is a regular meal; where Bollywood songs are as popular as Britney Spears ...
And what do I like most about this abundance of Indianness? Not that it's abundant – but the fact that irrespective of who it is – they love India! Yes, I have had each nationality (Indian origin or not) tell me that they adore India – some like it for Bollywood songs (no love is lost even if they don't understand Hindi), some for the people (those who have been there), some for its natural beauty (treckers, hikers), some for its religion (Hare Rama-Hare Krishna cult followers), and some for its unblemished political record.
Ummm … I seem to have drifted away from London again and this post has alreadyv become quite long … so let me do one thing … let me make another post and this time I will make it point to stick to London.
Probability and the Battery Cell
 | "The human body generates more bio-electricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTU's of body heat ..... What is the Matrix? Control. The Matrix is a computer generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this." - Morpheus, The Matrix |
Chris Andersen has written a classic post about how the new systems of mankind - Google, Wikipedia and Blogs - follow the probabilistic principles wherein information may not accurate always at the micro level, but as the volume grows "it is likely to become more and more accurate" . Do visit the link.
Nick Carr makes the humanist case against Chris by trying to build a hypothetical case that fascism is closely linked with the "collective wisdom" which these systems rely on. He even quoted science fiction writer Simon Ings: "When our machines overtook us, too complex and efficient for us to control, they did it so fast and so smoothly and so usefully, only a fool or a prophet would have dared complain."
My Thoughts
Probability and its ubiquity in nature is nothing new. Niels Bohr gave the probabilistic structure of the atom more than 80 years ago and even 150 year old Darwinian theories were based on similar thoughts and hence should be no surprise that the systems mankind uses to manage its own information and knowledge are probabilistic in nature [I am surprised why this didn't happen long ago].
Inopportunely these systems are often described and assumed as 'intelligent' by themselves. Quoting Chris "now we're depending more and more on systems where nobody's in charge; the intelligence is simply emergent". This leads thinkers (naive in mathematics, statistics and electronics) to believe that these systems have an inbuilt intelligence which can some day overpower mankind and human intelligence as a whole.
Clearly, all such fears are unfounded. All systems - whether probabilistic or deterministic, electronic or neuronic, automatic or manual - are ultimately fed, and run by Humans. The information on Wikipedia was not written by machines, neither does Google give you links to articles generated by gadgets. Humans are the soul of the probabilistic, automated, neuronic world which is emerging as a result of interactions between humans and systems.
What also comes out of Chris's explanation of these systems is that systems like the Wikipedia - clearly being probabilistic - cannot be considered absolute and "you need to take any single result with a grain of salt". Further, these systems become more and more accurate only when the number of contributors to them increases. All this points to a conclusion that none of these systems can exist without human intelligence being a part and parcel of them. It is Human intelligence which will ultimately decide whether the singular entry on Wikipedia is authentic, correct. The macro level probabilistic correctness of these systems will never replace the ability of human brain to decide between right and wrong, correct and incorrect at the micro level. Further, deterministic systems like Britannica Encyclopedia or Industry Journals will never cease - they will remain the sources of accurate micro level information.
Clearly, the human body can never be reduced to the status of a battery cell [as depicted in The Matrix].
Epilogue
A classic comment on Chris's post was this.
I always think the best example of "Wisdom of Crowds" is the "Ask the audience" part of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The crowd is almost never wrong. The people who don't know the answer make a random guess, but all the random guesses cancel each other out and you're left with the people who really DO know the answer.
More on Wikipedia's accuracy measBritannicast the Brittanica here.
The Iron Fort: Lauhgadh
Well ... its been quite some time - we visited Lohagadh fort on 24th July ... considerable water has run under the bridge since then (pun intended).... and it is due to waters on Mumbai roads that I got the photos of the trip quite late.
Lohagarh fort was built by the Marathas to guard the important routes on which trade takes place. It is situated near Bhaje village in Malvili, near Lonavala. It stands on a 3400 ft high hill, and the tough terrain makes it truly Lauh-Garh, implying invincibility of the fort. The fort could not be conquered by any attacking ruler, no matter how big an army he commandeered. The strategic marvel that this fort is, it is surpassed only by the monumental strategic blunder that lead to its fall.
A twin fort, christened Visapur, was constructed on a hill adjacent to Lohagadh. Due to internal feuds between the then Maratha Rulers, the Visapur fort was acquired by the British with little resistance. The Lohgadh fort on the adjacent hill was then captured without a single bullet being fired by the British.
Read More: http://www.trekshitiz.com/EI/EI_DefaultUser.asp?FortName=Lohgad
And here are our photos, conquering the heights of Lohagarh .....
The bottom of the hill - waterfall with tons of force!
The rise on the fort - its a steep climb throughout
And thats not a cliff but the staircase of the fort. Water flows right 'through' the fort to make the waterfall below
On the Dwar [gate] of the Fort - Sharad (below) and Me(above)
Me on the watch-tower of the Fort.
Its all cloudy up-there ... one can see atleast 5-7 main roads leading to the Fort from this tower. The view covers a radial distance of atleast 10-25 Kms from the foot of the hill.
At the peak - Sharad, Me, and Digvijay (L to R)
The trek beyond this point is very difficult; we couldn't take our camera along. There is a watchtower at the farthest end of the long serpent like hill visible behind us. From this tower, one can keep a watch on almost the whole area governed by this Fort. The watchtower was used to keep track of Octroi details for all vehicles entering the state.
And now the best 2 photographs - almost half way up, this is a point where we had our snacks. The two photos are of the same hill, one taken during the trek uphill and the other downhill . Notice the play of clouds.
Uphill ....
Downhill ....
For more information on Lohgarh, check out the links below:
http://www.trekshitiz.com/EI/EI_DefaultUser.asp?FortName=Lohgad
http://www.aroundpune.com/lohgad.htm
http://www.amitkulkarni.info/pics/lohagad_trek/
PS: This blog is becoming more of a photoblog ... but it is not to remain so ... we are soon getting net at home- and I am also due for a leave from 13th August. Hope to post lots of my pending text blogs.... including some anecdotes of the Mumbai-Maha-Flood-Drama
Lohagarh fort was built by the Marathas to guard the important routes on which trade takes place. It is situated near Bhaje village in Malvili, near Lonavala. It stands on a 3400 ft high hill, and the tough terrain makes it truly Lauh-Garh, implying invincibility of the fort. The fort could not be conquered by any attacking ruler, no matter how big an army he commandeered. The strategic marvel that this fort is, it is surpassed only by the monumental strategic blunder that lead to its fall.
A twin fort, christened Visapur, was constructed on a hill adjacent to Lohagadh. Due to internal feuds between the then Maratha Rulers, the Visapur fort was acquired by the British with little resistance. The Lohgadh fort on the adjacent hill was then captured without a single bullet being fired by the British.
Read More: http://www.trekshitiz.com/EI/EI_DefaultUser.asp?FortName=Lohgad
And here are our photos, conquering the heights of Lohagarh .....
The bottom of the hill - waterfall with tons of force!
The rise on the fort - its a steep climb throughout
And thats not a cliff but the staircase of the fort. Water flows right 'through' the fort to make the waterfall below
On the Dwar [gate] of the Fort - Sharad (below) and Me(above)
Me on the watch-tower of the Fort.
Its all cloudy up-there ... one can see atleast 5-7 main roads leading to the Fort from this tower. The view covers a radial distance of atleast 10-25 Kms from the foot of the hill.
At the peak - Sharad, Me, and Digvijay (L to R)
The trek beyond this point is very difficult; we couldn't take our camera along. There is a watchtower at the farthest end of the long serpent like hill visible behind us. From this tower, one can keep a watch on almost the whole area governed by this Fort. The watchtower was used to keep track of Octroi details for all vehicles entering the state.
And now the best 2 photographs - almost half way up, this is a point where we had our snacks. The two photos are of the same hill, one taken during the trek uphill and the other downhill . Notice the play of clouds.
Uphill ....
Downhill ....
For more information on Lohgarh, check out the links below:
http://www.trekshitiz.com/EI/EI_DefaultUser.asp?FortName=Lohgad
http://www.aroundpune.com/lohgad.htm
http://www.amitkulkarni.info/pics/lohagad_trek/
PS: This blog is becoming more of a photoblog ... but it is not to remain so ... we are soon getting net at home- and I am also due for a leave from 13th August. Hope to post lots of my pending text blogs.... including some anecdotes of the Mumbai-Maha-Flood-Drama
Rainy Day . . . .party in Office ...
Though we were all stranded - not by our choice - still our IRM team made it a day worth remembering... We had Dinner .. followed by ice-cream ... and then a Movie (all courtesy HR). But the arty dudes of Information Risk Management (IRM) set out with the guitar, singing all night ...
There were Hindi numbers to start with - Neele Neele Ambar par, Chhookar mere man ko, Dum maro Dum, Gum hai kisi ke pyaar mein, Pyar hamien kis mod pe, Bekarar Karke hamein yu na jaiye, O sanam (Lucky Ali), .... and many more
Anish De and Rahul Pinto
Soon we had some great english numbers playing like - Country Roads, Piano man, You look wonderful tonight, Hotel California, Unchained Melody, Sweet Child o' mine ... and many more
Lionel, Anish, Subodh Mutha, Sachin Patankar .. and me sitting
And here's the scene of the movie screening which IRM was out of ...
Guess I can coin a new term .. IRM - Interesting Radiant Maelstorms .... we rocked the night for sure ...
There were Hindi numbers to start with - Neele Neele Ambar par, Chhookar mere man ko, Dum maro Dum, Gum hai kisi ke pyaar mein, Pyar hamien kis mod pe, Bekarar Karke hamein yu na jaiye, O sanam (Lucky Ali), .... and many more
Anish De and Rahul Pinto
Soon we had some great english numbers playing like - Country Roads, Piano man, You look wonderful tonight, Hotel California, Unchained Melody, Sweet Child o' mine ... and many more
Lionel, Anish, Subodh Mutha, Sachin Patankar .. and me sitting
And here's the scene of the movie screening which IRM was out of ...
Guess I can coin a new term .. IRM - Interesting Radiant Maelstorms .... we rocked the night for sure ...
Rain Rain Go away .....
WhatADay!!!!! It was dry enough for me to ride my bike (without a raincoat) at 8.30AM in the morning to KanjurMarg Station; it is still dry when I reach office at 9:00 AM .... the rains start at around 11:00 AM and they worsen .... by 2 PM this ↓↓ is what all roads from VT to Ambernath look like . . . .
And at around 3 PM came an official mail ...... "In view of heavy rains & subsequent disruption, staff wanting to leave early may do so today. You may charge this time to ‘special leave’."
People living very far and very near filtered out; but those who lived 'in the middle' suburbs could not - locals had stopped plying, roads were blocked either by water or by traffic. So here am I, at 7.36 PM with little work but still in Office. Chances are that I may not be able to get out of this place till 9 PM or even more.
This reminds me of school days when we used to get a 'Rainy Day' leave. Mostly, the school bus did not come indicating a 'Rainy Day' leave; but some days were weirder - the bus used to take us to the school gate which used to be closed and so the bus would turn around to take us back to home. Apparently, this was because buses plying in other areas of the city couldn't ply. I remember 2 old 2 line poems -- one in English, another in Marathi:
Rain Rain Go away, come again another day
Little Johny wants to play
Aur pesh hai is yaadon ki lehar mein behte hue .. mere School ki kuchh photu ...
PS: I used this spare time to read up the 'B-school Blues section' on Shubham's Blog and making a PPT that I was otherwise supposed to make tommorow.
And at around 3 PM came an official mail ...... "In view of heavy rains & subsequent disruption, staff wanting to leave early may do so today. You may charge this time to ‘special leave’."
People living very far and very near filtered out; but those who lived 'in the middle' suburbs could not - locals had stopped plying, roads were blocked either by water or by traffic. So here am I, at 7.36 PM with little work but still in Office. Chances are that I may not be able to get out of this place till 9 PM or even more.
This reminds me of school days when we used to get a 'Rainy Day' leave. Mostly, the school bus did not come indicating a 'Rainy Day' leave; but some days were weirder - the bus used to take us to the school gate which used to be closed and so the bus would turn around to take us back to home. Apparently, this was because buses plying in other areas of the city couldn't ply. I remember 2 old 2 line poems -- one in English, another in Marathi:
Rain Rain Go away, come again another day
Little Johny wants to play
Aur pesh hai is yaadon ki lehar mein behte hue .. mere School ki kuchh photu ...
PS: I used this spare time to read up the 'B-school Blues section' on Shubham's Blog and making a PPT that I was otherwise supposed to make tommorow.
(after the) Press Release !!
I haven't written much about my younger brother Abhishek. Well .... a fantastic person who has achieved his dream of getting into the National Defense Academy (NDA). Today he returned home (Bhopal) after his first semester at the academy. Dainik Bhaskar covered their homecoming. Below is the photograph of the occasion- I have drawn a faint green circle around Abhishek.
A few words from my father also form a part of the article in Bhaskar [http://www.bhaskar.com/defaults/bhopal_newshindi5.html]. Dad said he doesn't remember when the reporter asked him all that stuff !!
Even I had a similar experience the other day. I got a call from a college friend late night congratulating me for getting my name in the Advancedge magazine by IMS learning. I was dazed for a moment thinking when I had given an interview to IMS. It later dawned that our Press relations committee IMpress had once asked me for a quote on our placements - they had passed on this to IMS. If anyone is interested in reading those 2 lines by this mortal soul you can download the PDF of the magazine from here: [ http://www.advancedge.com/issues/PDF/instwatch_nitie.pdf ]
For the record here is a link of my previous post about my Press Presence :)) [ http://the-complete-man.blogspot.com/2004/09/archives-of-my-life.html ].
PS: I know self praise is sin - but somtimes I can't help indulging in it. After all I am human!!
Trip to Pune . . .
After I came to NITIE and saw how the alumni network is managed, I understood one of the major things lacking in BIT (my engg. school) was this. Serendipitously Sallu (Manish Saluja) one day called Shubham and told him about invisionfree forum that he had discovered and gave the idea to make it a discussion forum for their batchmates; when Shubham discussed the idea with me - we thought of extending it as a an Alumni Portal for all alumni of BIT and thus started BIT Alumni www.bitalumni.4t.com the (un)official portal for BITans. Today we have become a 500 member strong site and the largest online conglomeration of BITans. The next logical step to this venture was organizing Alumni meets in different cities. As a small beginning we organized a reunion of all BITans of our batch in Mumbai-Pune (15 turned up) but our meet has fired BITans in other cities as well for such ventures . . . its really been 'main chalta gay kaarwan bantaa gaya' for 4 of us founding members - myself, Shubham, Manish and Nimish.
Posting some photos of the reunion outing below . . .
Posting some photos of the reunion outing below . . .
The safari called NITIE
After finishing my last exam, as I was walking down from my classroom to the hostel, I had a realisation of the green cover that I have been living under for the past 1 year. (btw should elaborate for benefit non-NITIE junta that 'down' is not figurative but literal – NITIE is situated on a hill and we literally walk down from our classrooms to the hostel)
NITIE is a totally different world as compared to the surrounding Mumbai.
When at times I get to the terrace of the academic building or the MDP hostel the scene is nothing less than heaven!!
Green lush environs and surrounded by 2 lakes on two sides.
The calm and serene Vihar Lake and the spawning vegetation all around! Among the hills we know lies the film city, but forest cover hides it. Far away you see some buildings.
But this is just one side; move to the other side of the terrace and you see hills covered by thick vegetation, and the Vihar Lake beyond the hills.
And a third side has the Powai Lake; with IIT and Hirananadani Complex on its either side.
Somewhere on a fourth side you see “The Renaissance” also.
But inside the campus you hardly realise that there is a city out there, the busiest city of the country.
The safari effect is further enhanced by the regular visits of Leopards from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Borivili).
Well,believe thats quite a lot... gotta sleep .... c ya ....
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