First let us look at the fixtures against the Top - 4 plus Liverpool.Yes get used to City being called Top four unlike the traditional top 4 in the recent times Cause i expect them to stay in the top 4 for quite some time.And it looks very much likely to me that Liverpool will finish with a CL position next season.
Here they are..
Sat 27 Aug Arsenal (H)
Sat 17 Sep Chelsea (H)
Sat 15 Oct Liverpool (A)
Sat 22 Oct Man City (H)
Sat 21 Jan Arsenal (A)
Sat 4 Feb Chelsea (A)
Sat 11 Feb Liverpool (H)
A spurs aways and a Sat 28 Apr Man City (A).
Looks good with no tricky fixtures except for the Eastlands visit, towards the last 3 months of the season where the schedule will be tight with CL,FA in final stages (Hopefully a leg in all the competitions till the final stages). Spurs is a good team but i generally feel confident when we are up against Spurs, don't know why.Hence the exclusion in the above list.
Full fixtures
Sat 13 Aug - West Bromwich Albion (A)
Sat 20 Aug - Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Sat 27 Aug - Arsenal (H)
Sat 10 Sep - Bolton Wanderers (A)
Sat 17 Sep - Chelsea (H)
Sat 24 Sep - Stoke City (A)
Sat 1 Oct - Norwich City (H)
Sat 15 Oct - Liverpool (A)
Sat 22 Oct - Manchester City (H)
Sat 29 Oct - Everton (A)
Sat 5 Nov - Sunderland (H)
Sat 19 Nov - Swansea City (A)
Sat 26 Nov - Newcastle United (H)
Sat 3 Dec - Aston Villa (A)
Sat 10 Dec - Wolves (H)
Sat 17 Dec - QPR (A)
Wed 21 Dec - Fulham (A)
Mon 26 Dec - Wigan Athletic (H)
Sat 31 Dec - Blackburn Rovers (H)
Mon 2 Jan - Newcastle (A)
Sat 14 Jan - Bolton Wanderers (H)
Sat 21 Jan - Arsenal (A)
Tue 31 Jan - Stoke City (H)
Sat 4 Feb - Chelsea (A)
Sat 11 Feb - Liverpool (H)
Sat 25 Feb - Norwich City (A)
Sat 3 Mar - Tottenham Hotspur (A)
Sat 10 Mar - West Bromwich Albion (H)
Sat 17 Mar - Wolves (A)
Sat 24 Mar - Fulham (H)
Sat 31 Mar - Blackburn Rovers (A)
Sat 7 Apr - QPR (H)
Mon 9 Apr - Wigan Athletic (A)
Sat 14 Apr - Aston Villa (H)
Sat 21 Apr - Everton (H)
Sat 28 Apr - Manchester City (A)
Sat 5 May - Swansea City (H)
Sun 13 May - Sunderland (A)
Eagerly waiting for the transfers esp a CMF in the mould of Modric than Sneijder.Hopefully SAF
gets one..
GGMU!! GGMU!!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Don't bash Dhoni...Not now
After the suicidal collapse of Indian Middle Order in the Ind vs SA match, lots of fans castigated Dhoni alone.But with all due respect towards your opinion, if you're one among them, I would like to disagree.
-> He might've made a mistake by bringing Nehra on for the last over,who had a bad day
compared to other bowlers and bhajji is having one over left and is already a good spell.
-> He was stupid and I really don't comprehend his intentions behind exposing indian tail to the likes of Steyn.
->Post match interview, he started advising other players.Dressing room is the place not the media, anyways he doesn't have the right to criticise in the first place.Dhoni also failed.
The above points might be a bit confusing as to what I intended to write here, whether I intend to defend/bash further Dhoni.
But my point is what about the rest of the middle order batsmen?In that situation, what do people expect dhoni to do. when others are in a hurry to reach pavilion and relax even before Sachin?You expect him to join them?He could have been better by shielding the lower order even though that means he ends up not scoring runs but prolong the innings.
In my opinion whenever team is having a very early collapse he is the most reliable batsmen to have in the order.Stop looking at him as a hard hitting Dhoni he used to be when he entered the scene.I agree, some times his strike rate can be frustrating but very rarely his strike rate will be low compared to the best strike rate of the innings(probably on slower pitches) but generally at the end of the innigs he ll settle the accounts.Dhoni is one of the best if not the best middle order batsmen at present in the ODI's not in regards to technique and entertainment, but in terms of effectiveness and value to the team.
I didn't really feel bad after the match because
1) India should have these learning experiences before reaching the knockout stages.We can perform only under conditions where people seriously doubt our abilities rather than with a favorites tag where we are expected to remove all the teams like dust and claim the title and 2) because I predicted that Ind loses to SA .. :D..Dont bash me now..That was just gut feeling...
Cricket is my religion (just a convert for these 2 months) and Sachin is my God(Always)...
-> He might've made a mistake by bringing Nehra on for the last over,who had a bad day
compared to other bowlers and bhajji is having one over left and is already a good spell.
-> He was stupid and I really don't comprehend his intentions behind exposing indian tail to the likes of Steyn.
->Post match interview, he started advising other players.Dressing room is the place not the media, anyways he doesn't have the right to criticise in the first place.Dhoni also failed.
The above points might be a bit confusing as to what I intended to write here, whether I intend to defend/bash further Dhoni.
But my point is what about the rest of the middle order batsmen?In that situation, what do people expect dhoni to do. when others are in a hurry to reach pavilion and relax even before Sachin?You expect him to join them?He could have been better by shielding the lower order even though that means he ends up not scoring runs but prolong the innings.
In my opinion whenever team is having a very early collapse he is the most reliable batsmen to have in the order.Stop looking at him as a hard hitting Dhoni he used to be when he entered the scene.I agree, some times his strike rate can be frustrating but very rarely his strike rate will be low compared to the best strike rate of the innings(probably on slower pitches) but generally at the end of the innigs he ll settle the accounts.Dhoni is one of the best if not the best middle order batsmen at present in the ODI's not in regards to technique and entertainment, but in terms of effectiveness and value to the team.
I didn't really feel bad after the match because
1) India should have these learning experiences before reaching the knockout stages.We can perform only under conditions where people seriously doubt our abilities rather than with a favorites tag where we are expected to remove all the teams like dust and claim the title and 2) because I predicted that Ind loses to SA .. :D..Dont bash me now..That was just gut feeling...
Cricket is my religion (just a convert for these 2 months) and Sachin is my God(Always)...
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Rescue Missions in the mysterious trails of OG
After all the build-up to the trek, the time has arrived to start.With the inexperience sitting on my shoulders supplemented by the common food, noudles and soup packets i volunteered to take up contirbuting in a heavy backpack which i realized only after 3 hours of hiking.I always learn things the harsh way (#1).
At 7AM (19/2) Started along a rough jungle path aiming for the first peak at height of 1100m and by 10AM we came out of the forest cover and should hike the broad sun light.
Plan is to conquer 4 adjoining peaks all approx at height of 1000m and then by 2 start descent and get to the stream by nightfall and camp there for first night.So till 4PM we wont have a sight of a drop of water and the insructions were clear for all to carry atleast 3 litres of water at the start fo the trek.(You may ask why not more, but the heavier the more problematic it is to hike).There are 2-3 people who didn't carry any water and the explanation given is that they didn't listen the instrctions.Rakesh, unfortunately was sent back just one hour after of hiking, decision taken in the best interest of the whole group.Sorry mate.People started to slow down once we are out into the scorching sun and water was drained away from body and bottles in equal amounts.By 12:30 first batch of people got to the first peak,I reached there by 12:45 types, and the last one reached by 2.Our organizer biju lost his camera, he went all the way back to track it down and he came back only with his camera in his hand.WILL.
An interesting thing happened during this interval.The terrain is basically small rock boulders (smaller ones are the dangerous ones) and grasslands to a large extent.But it was all very steep ascent as we have to ascend 1000m in 4 hours.One slip and you don't where you'll end up.I was taking pics of a person and suddenly heard shouts of ROCKS and what I saw made me had goosebumps.Ramesh and sundar are separated by 10m and a rock double the size my head was accidentally set-off by ramesh and when i turned my head, sundar already bent down with the bag on his head, but luckily the rock slit into two just before him and the two pieces rolled down from either side of him.Pure luck it was.Don't know how sundar felt but i had goosebumps..Pics of the terrain and the path
continuing...
Had a pack of chappathis, had an intersting chit-chat about ticks, snakes, some horrifying bee experiences, tick allergies.. Very intriguing stories.At around 2 PM,started to conquer 3 more peaks.In this path of journeys sole of my shoe came off completely and my worst fear came true.I took out my sandals, thinking that if it gets very difficult, will leave the next day.In 2 hours finished all the 3 peaks and at the end of the 3rd peak.Some pics of the vast, steepy grasslands..
Stunning view of a train passing through the mountains opposite to us.
We didnt have peter or biju or anyone to guide which way to descend to get the water stream.We found a dry stream with full of boulders and a gang of 16 people proceeded along that dry stream, under the inference all the dry streams would/should lead to the main stream(which is at ~200m).Ascent was just energy sapping, the terrain was not that difficult.But the descent, full of bushes, we are inside the green cover, so in a way descemt was difficult than ascent.At one point we hit very dense bushes and had to come out of the dense stream.Me n durai went around and found a way back into the dry stream though the detour was very thorny we went ahead and kept trekking.At around 4 30 we found a small trail of water, which was flowing just drop by drop but that was enough to revivify the 16 dried up souls.Some of us had a bottle filled up.We had no idea where the other 20 people are, but at around 5 PM we heard 6 others and waited for them and we proceeded.It was getting dark and we took our torch lights out.At one point of time,owing to the darkness and my sandals i slid into a pool of water losing the grip.Had no idea where i was going until i reached the bottom.Around 6 40, concluded there's still a long way to go and waited for a regrouping.All the count we got is 31 with peter at the back helping Sinu who saw her Hip pain restricting her to move
freely.We had 5 people missing and have no idea whether all of them are together or not.Among those 5 guys excpet Biju, rest all were amateurs like me.Two of the friends of one of the 5 started to panick and even started praying that they all are with Biju.Anyhow nothing to do in our hands, we started cooking soup, then noodles with the small trails of water available to us.Had a tasty food and slept.
My bed for the first night with OG.
Next day morning two of the friends started to contact shashidhar(their dosth) and biju too with the feeeeeble signal available on Airtel but with no luck.Somehow Biju got the info and messaged to that number that all 5 r together and that Rajeev is hurt.They are in another parallel stream(Later came to know it's all the power of BSNL).With our first aim being to reach the main stream we continued along the stream which got broadened fairly as we got lower and lower and the trail was relatively easy.We had a mini pool in b/w to relax.
By 12 the next day (20/2) we reached the main stream.Cooking, bathing, swimming, sleeping everyone was doing whatever they wished to.
Intersting stats came up.
Durai, our chief chef was asking people to take out the noodles packets out and ll we got is 5 apart from 3 we had on the night, the day before.So total 8 out of the 15 we had.7 are with Biju and co.Then comes milk powder to make tea(we had rest all sugar, tea powder) and surprisingly those are also with Biju and co. Then soup pakcets 2/4 are also with Biju & co.They even had one of the pair of vessels we
brought.In a way we are happy they had enough food.Anyways at around 3:30 a rescue mission started in their search but owing to my cut and the bleeding i could hardly walk(mind you the First aid kit is laso with Biju).I cudnt go in the rescue mission.Another group opted to go out,following the stream into the village and get food supplues for that night.By 7:30 botht he groups returned.Rescue mission with no luck, but the food group gt rice, ifsh curry(cooked one, they got it from a very kind village woman) and then eggs.Had a great dinner and all the guys slept off i guess around 9 30.But 6 ofus stayed awake because 9 eggs were remaining :D and we made an egg masala curry and had them with yummy chapathis which are otherwise iedible.
Some stunning views of the Stream
(20/2) Morning another rescue mission started for Biju and this time I joined them:total of 11.My leg was ok if not perfectly alright.Peter: "we are not coming back w/o them".Instructions were that by 11:30 if we won't return, sibn will be there with our bags, rest all should leave as we have bus to Bangalore at 2:30.We started and we were literally running along the rocks.After 1 hour,2 of them unable
to keep up with the pack, went back to the stream.9 of us kept going and kept going and at around 9 30AM me and Raj spotted Biju and surya.I hardly knew them for 4 hours before they went missing for 46 hours.But the rush of adrenaline at seeing them is still surprising to me.We both just hopped on from one rock to another, ran like deers and rushed to the bunch and hugged them one after the other.That emotion alone is worth the two days trek.
Get-together snaps
Then Biju started explaining how Rajiv sprained his ankle, how badly it was swollen,how he was not able to move, how they reached our camp fire by 11AM the prev day and the way they are conserving their food for a plan of 2 more days to get to the stream.That calculation was perfectly spot-on given the speed at which the he was locomoting.Can't use 'walking' here because he was using all his body parts including his bum except his legs, to move.Anyways luckily biju found an ancient jeep trail on which it was easy to carry him.Biju reckons it's easily a 100 year old trail.Learnt many more interesting things.We carried him on our shoulders for nearly 1.5-2 hrs, though Raj and Peter for the most part bore the wrath of 85Kgs of Rajeev. (Yeah, he was that heavy..No offence mate, Rajeev :D).I just pitched in
for some time.BY 11 we were back at the camp site.A stretcher was made to carry him along the trail along the stream into the village.
Here are the pics and the video.
Link1:Carrying him on stretcher:
Link2:Carrying him on stretcher:
Link3:Carrying Rajeev on stretcher:
And thus came the end to one of the most thrilling treks of my life.Thankyou Biju and Co.... :D
Interesting facts
#1 Biju had everything to cook and eat as I said above.The point where we felt happy, but we came to know that they didnt have the match box. They wnt back tot he stone age and triend generating fire but with no luck.They had everything to eat but not fire.All the way they were carrying the supplies futiley.
#2 Because of BSNL, Biju came to know that someone is trying to call him and he sent a message.He had signal for most part of the trek it seems... BSNL \m/ :)
At 7AM (19/2) Started along a rough jungle path aiming for the first peak at height of 1100m and by 10AM we came out of the forest cover and should hike the broad sun light.
Plan is to conquer 4 adjoining peaks all approx at height of 1000m and then by 2 start descent and get to the stream by nightfall and camp there for first night.So till 4PM we wont have a sight of a drop of water and the insructions were clear for all to carry atleast 3 litres of water at the start fo the trek.(You may ask why not more, but the heavier the more problematic it is to hike).There are 2-3 people who didn't carry any water and the explanation given is that they didn't listen the instrctions.Rakesh, unfortunately was sent back just one hour after of hiking, decision taken in the best interest of the whole group.Sorry mate.People started to slow down once we are out into the scorching sun and water was drained away from body and bottles in equal amounts.By 12:30 first batch of people got to the first peak,I reached there by 12:45 types, and the last one reached by 2.Our organizer biju lost his camera, he went all the way back to track it down and he came back only with his camera in his hand.WILL.
An interesting thing happened during this interval.The terrain is basically small rock boulders (smaller ones are the dangerous ones) and grasslands to a large extent.But it was all very steep ascent as we have to ascend 1000m in 4 hours.One slip and you don't where you'll end up.I was taking pics of a person and suddenly heard shouts of ROCKS and what I saw made me had goosebumps.Ramesh and sundar are separated by 10m and a rock double the size my head was accidentally set-off by ramesh and when i turned my head, sundar already bent down with the bag on his head, but luckily the rock slit into two just before him and the two pieces rolled down from either side of him.Pure luck it was.Don't know how sundar felt but i had goosebumps..Pics of the terrain and the path
continuing...
Had a pack of chappathis, had an intersting chit-chat about ticks, snakes, some horrifying bee experiences, tick allergies.. Very intriguing stories.At around 2 PM,started to conquer 3 more peaks.In this path of journeys sole of my shoe came off completely and my worst fear came true.I took out my sandals, thinking that if it gets very difficult, will leave the next day.In 2 hours finished all the 3 peaks and at the end of the 3rd peak.Some pics of the vast, steepy grasslands..
Stunning view of a train passing through the mountains opposite to us.
We didnt have peter or biju or anyone to guide which way to descend to get the water stream.We found a dry stream with full of boulders and a gang of 16 people proceeded along that dry stream, under the inference all the dry streams would/should lead to the main stream(which is at ~200m).Ascent was just energy sapping, the terrain was not that difficult.But the descent, full of bushes, we are inside the green cover, so in a way descemt was difficult than ascent.At one point we hit very dense bushes and had to come out of the dense stream.Me n durai went around and found a way back into the dry stream though the detour was very thorny we went ahead and kept trekking.At around 4 30 we found a small trail of water, which was flowing just drop by drop but that was enough to revivify the 16 dried up souls.Some of us had a bottle filled up.We had no idea where the other 20 people are, but at around 5 PM we heard 6 others and waited for them and we proceeded.It was getting dark and we took our torch lights out.At one point of time,owing to the darkness and my sandals i slid into a pool of water losing the grip.Had no idea where i was going until i reached the bottom.Around 6 40, concluded there's still a long way to go and waited for a regrouping.All the count we got is 31 with peter at the back helping Sinu who saw her Hip pain restricting her to move
freely.We had 5 people missing and have no idea whether all of them are together or not.Among those 5 guys excpet Biju, rest all were amateurs like me.Two of the friends of one of the 5 started to panick and even started praying that they all are with Biju.Anyhow nothing to do in our hands, we started cooking soup, then noodles with the small trails of water available to us.Had a tasty food and slept.
My bed for the first night with OG.
Next day morning two of the friends started to contact shashidhar(their dosth) and biju too with the feeeeeble signal available on Airtel but with no luck.Somehow Biju got the info and messaged to that number that all 5 r together and that Rajeev is hurt.They are in another parallel stream(Later came to know it's all the power of BSNL).With our first aim being to reach the main stream we continued along the stream which got broadened fairly as we got lower and lower and the trail was relatively easy.We had a mini pool in b/w to relax.
By 12 the next day (20/2) we reached the main stream.Cooking, bathing, swimming, sleeping everyone was doing whatever they wished to.
Intersting stats came up.
Durai, our chief chef was asking people to take out the noodles packets out and ll we got is 5 apart from 3 we had on the night, the day before.So total 8 out of the 15 we had.7 are with Biju and co.Then comes milk powder to make tea(we had rest all sugar, tea powder) and surprisingly those are also with Biju and co. Then soup pakcets 2/4 are also with Biju & co.They even had one of the pair of vessels we
brought.In a way we are happy they had enough food.Anyways at around 3:30 a rescue mission started in their search but owing to my cut and the bleeding i could hardly walk(mind you the First aid kit is laso with Biju).I cudnt go in the rescue mission.Another group opted to go out,following the stream into the village and get food supplues for that night.By 7:30 botht he groups returned.Rescue mission with no luck, but the food group gt rice, ifsh curry(cooked one, they got it from a very kind village woman) and then eggs.Had a great dinner and all the guys slept off i guess around 9 30.But 6 ofus stayed awake because 9 eggs were remaining :D and we made an egg masala curry and had them with yummy chapathis which are otherwise iedible.
Some stunning views of the Stream
(20/2) Morning another rescue mission started for Biju and this time I joined them:total of 11.My leg was ok if not perfectly alright.Peter: "we are not coming back w/o them".Instructions were that by 11:30 if we won't return, sibn will be there with our bags, rest all should leave as we have bus to Bangalore at 2:30.We started and we were literally running along the rocks.After 1 hour,2 of them unable
to keep up with the pack, went back to the stream.9 of us kept going and kept going and at around 9 30AM me and Raj spotted Biju and surya.I hardly knew them for 4 hours before they went missing for 46 hours.But the rush of adrenaline at seeing them is still surprising to me.We both just hopped on from one rock to another, ran like deers and rushed to the bunch and hugged them one after the other.That emotion alone is worth the two days trek.
Get-together snaps
Then Biju started explaining how Rajiv sprained his ankle, how badly it was swollen,how he was not able to move, how they reached our camp fire by 11AM the prev day and the way they are conserving their food for a plan of 2 more days to get to the stream.That calculation was perfectly spot-on given the speed at which the he was locomoting.Can't use 'walking' here because he was using all his body parts including his bum except his legs, to move.Anyways luckily biju found an ancient jeep trail on which it was easy to carry him.Biju reckons it's easily a 100 year old trail.Learnt many more interesting things.We carried him on our shoulders for nearly 1.5-2 hrs, though Raj and Peter for the most part bore the wrath of 85Kgs of Rajeev. (Yeah, he was that heavy..No offence mate, Rajeev :D).I just pitched in
for some time.BY 11 we were back at the camp site.A stretcher was made to carry him along the trail along the stream into the village.
Here are the pics and the video.
Link1:Carrying him on stretcher:
Link2:Carrying him on stretcher:
Link3:Carrying Rajeev on stretcher:
And thus came the end to one of the most thrilling treks of my life.Thankyou Biju and Co.... :D
Interesting facts
#1 Biju had everything to cook and eat as I said above.The point where we felt happy, but we came to know that they didnt have the match box. They wnt back tot he stone age and triend generating fire but with no luck.They had everything to eat but not fire.All the way they were carrying the supplies futiley.
#2 Because of BSNL, Biju came to know that someone is trying to call him and he sent a message.He had signal for most part of the trek it seems... BSNL \m/ :)
Monday, February 28, 2011
WC Predictions
Prediction.Forecasting..Prognostication...
Whatever it may be, it is always exciting to predict..Now it's all cricket mania everywhere and with the limited knowledge I have in that arena, just wanted to take a shot at predicting how the group stages will progress and the subsequent stagess...
Group A
Team P W L T Pts
S.Africa (1) 6 5 1 10 Will lose to england
England (3) 6 4 1 1 9 Loss to Ban or WI..Think it ll be WI
India (2) 6 4 1 1 9 Loss is to SA
W.Indies (4) 6 3 3 6
Ban 6 3 3 6 Win over WI
Holland
Ireland No upsets from the two minnows though a 1-2 fight matches from the Orange.
Group B
Aus 5 1 0 10 (1) Loss to SL
Pak 5 1 0 10 (3) Loss to Aus
SL 5 1 0 10 (2) Loss to Pak
NZ 3 1 0 6 (4)
Ire ------
Can -------
Zim -----
QF's
SA vs NZ SA
Ind vs Pak N/A
Eng vs SL Eng
WI vs Aus Aus
Semis
SA vs Eng Eng
x vs Aus x
Finals
Eng vs x x
Whatever it may be, it is always exciting to predict..Now it's all cricket mania everywhere and with the limited knowledge I have in that arena, just wanted to take a shot at predicting how the group stages will progress and the subsequent stagess...
Group A
Team P W L T Pts
S.Africa (1) 6 5 1 10 Will lose to england
England (3) 6 4 1 1 9 Loss to Ban or WI..Think it ll be WI
India (2) 6 4 1 1 9 Loss is to SA
W.Indies (4) 6 3 3 6
Ban 6 3 3 6 Win over WI
Holland
Ireland No upsets from the two minnows though a 1-2 fight matches from the Orange.
Group B
Aus 5 1 0 10 (1) Loss to SL
Pak 5 1 0 10 (3) Loss to Aus
SL 5 1 0 10 (2) Loss to Pak
NZ 3 1 0 6 (4)
Ire ------
Can -------
Zim -----
QF's
SA vs NZ SA
Ind vs Pak N/A
Eng vs SL Eng
WI vs Aus Aus
Semis
SA vs Eng Eng
x vs Aus x
Finals
Eng vs x x
Thursday, February 24, 2011
My first REAL trek . OG Part-1
Finally after 3 days got the time to write about the Trek to OG.The dense jungles of the
kabinale forests comprising of Ombatthu Gudde (ombatthu=9 gudde= peaks) is once in a lifetime experience, not because the place has stunning scenery in this dry season but because of the adventures and thrill that I experienced, trekking with a group of 36 like minded people (barring 1-2).
There was a lot of hype about OG: the mysteriously dense forests,long list of missed people in these jungles (that's what some of the blogs I read claimed before the trek).But scare/bliss/sorrow/ whatever the emotion may be ,you'll remember and cherish/respect that particular feeling only when you experience it first-handed.So decided to go ahead with OG trek, registered for it and it was one among the 15 trkes organized as part of 3rd birthday of CTC.Preview to OG Trek
In the prep mail sent my Biju and Peter,trek sounded to deliver and live up to the hype around OG.Anyways coming to the preparations: as usual, waiting till the last moment, hence leading to a lot of last min preparations,acquired all the required things as mentioend in the mail like torch, sleeping mat,sunscreen lotion,camera, empty bottles etc... and got into Lalbagh express to Bangalore at 3:30 PM, Friday,18/2/11.Thus started my journey.
In Train, there are two other CTC trek groups present and all the three together made amerry there.Surya one among our OG trek grou, had an unusually weird English(natural or artificially acquired to woo girls,am uncertain) and with it he started to talk to random girls and every tale ended with surya proposing to that woman.Finally ended up with surya proposing to women ranging from 21 to 50 years.Met a few IITians who were part of another CTC trek.With me thinking of ways to get acquainted with some of the members, made friends with a few and the train came to a halt in bangalore.Ten of us had a detour to get a quick dinner and caught the bus from Bangalore to Gundya checkpost (located on Bangalore-Mangalore highway, base of the jungle)and reache the destination 5AM Saturday.Had a short nap on spread out sleeping maps, then I had a 1/2 litre of milk,then everyone took their share of food(energy bars, glucose,chappathi packets,buns,apples) and shared the common food (Noodles,soup powder etc..).Then came the instructions from Peter that first 8 hrs of the trek would be on dry land and there would be no water available hence everyone should carry 3 litres of water.Filled em up as instructed and started at 7 AM towards the first peak at an altitude of 1100m.The remaining two days experience to soon follow..
kabinale forests comprising of Ombatthu Gudde (ombatthu=9 gudde= peaks) is once in a lifetime experience, not because the place has stunning scenery in this dry season but because of the adventures and thrill that I experienced, trekking with a group of 36 like minded people (barring 1-2).
There was a lot of hype about OG: the mysteriously dense forests,long list of missed people in these jungles (that's what some of the blogs I read claimed before the trek).But scare/bliss/sorrow/ whatever the emotion may be ,you'll remember and cherish/respect that particular feeling only when you experience it first-handed.So decided to go ahead with OG trek, registered for it and it was one among the 15 trkes organized as part of 3rd birthday of CTC.Preview to OG Trek
In the prep mail sent my Biju and Peter,trek sounded to deliver and live up to the hype around OG.Anyways coming to the preparations: as usual, waiting till the last moment, hence leading to a lot of last min preparations,acquired all the required things as mentioend in the mail like torch, sleeping mat,sunscreen lotion,camera, empty bottles etc... and got into Lalbagh express to Bangalore at 3:30 PM, Friday,18/2/11.Thus started my journey.
In Train, there are two other CTC trek groups present and all the three together made amerry there.Surya one among our OG trek grou, had an unusually weird English(natural or artificially acquired to woo girls,am uncertain) and with it he started to talk to random girls and every tale ended with surya proposing to that woman.Finally ended up with surya proposing to women ranging from 21 to 50 years.Met a few IITians who were part of another CTC trek.With me thinking of ways to get acquainted with some of the members, made friends with a few and the train came to a halt in bangalore.Ten of us had a detour to get a quick dinner and caught the bus from Bangalore to Gundya checkpost (located on Bangalore-Mangalore highway, base of the jungle)and reache the destination 5AM Saturday.Had a short nap on spread out sleeping maps, then I had a 1/2 litre of milk,then everyone took their share of food(energy bars, glucose,chappathi packets,buns,apples) and shared the common food (Noodles,soup powder etc..).Then came the instructions from Peter that first 8 hrs of the trek would be on dry land and there would be no water available hence everyone should carry 3 litres of water.Filled em up as instructed and started at 7 AM towards the first peak at an altitude of 1100m.The remaining two days experience to soon follow..
Thursday, February 17, 2011
OG Trek preview
I have been part of 4 1-day treks till now.Initially they were exciting but the the last 2 were not that exciting as the places became familiar and without camping,they became routine.SO I was waiting a long time for a 2,3-day trek with CTC.Doesn't mean there aren't any.Just that not compatible with my shcedule (Dude!! enough, as if you're CEO of a company)
Just then, around January ending saw this Ombattu Gudde trek (~4 day long).Checked my diary (habba!!!:( :( too much showoff) and immediately signed for it.Later i got calls from two of my friends one inviting to his home and other that he is coming to chennai for this weekend but i said Sorry..Okka sari commit aithe na maata nene vinanu.. oru dhadava commit pannita yen pecha naane keka maate.. (ippo mahesh vijay!! Hayyo veedi dreams thagaleyya)..Sorry guys..
So all the preparations are done.Now its 10 AM.Waiting for the clock to tick 3 PM.Here are a few excerpts from the prep mails sent by organizers.If the trek delivers atleast half of what it prmoised, I can add this to treks of my life list.(As if you've done hundred treks!! Shutit dude, and stop here please..) Ok enough from me.Pics and organizers will take it from here...
From Peter:
"During my previous 4-day OG mission a few months ago 18 out of 25 trekkers ran out of the jungle on the 2nd day as they were under heavy leech attacks and things were getting real bloody ;-) That was the monsoon (leeches need wetness to survive). Now it should be much less but I am pretty sure there will still be some in the shady jungles protected from the sun above.
My main concern in OG is mostly snakes - the western ghats have many venomous snakes and we have seen/encountered many in previous OG treks. So far we did not have any snake bites. Still it always remains a risk as we would be at least 8-10 hours away from any proper medical facility."
"The main challenges will be the tough climbs and careful management of our water reserves (we will be walking for many hours away from the water sources so need to carry extra weight and carefully consume water)."
Got more bloody pics but chose not to upload.
From Biju:
"Ombattu Gudda is a peak at about 971 meters above sea level, and at a distance of about 20 kms from Gundiya Checkpost, inside the Kabbinhole Forest. The peak is so named because there are 9 prominent humps on top, almost in a straight line (Ombattu in Kannada means nine, while Gudda means hill). The forest is extremely virgin with huge bamboos and dense foliage playing host to a range of wildlife from the tiger, leopard, jungle cat, barking deer to gaur, sloth bear and, of course, the wild elephant. There will be tons of fresh elephant dung along the way. As you go along the jeep track, there are many places where one can get lost and hit dead ends. This route is noted as one of the most mysterious routes in the Western Ghats. "
Will be back on tuesday with loads of clicks and experiences.. (Hopefully)
Just then, around January ending saw this Ombattu Gudde trek (~4 day long).Checked my diary (habba!!!:( :( too much showoff) and immediately signed for it.Later i got calls from two of my friends one inviting to his home and other that he is coming to chennai for this weekend but i said Sorry..Okka sari commit aithe na maata nene vinanu.. oru dhadava commit pannita yen pecha naane keka maate.. (ippo mahesh vijay!! Hayyo veedi dreams thagaleyya)..Sorry guys..
So all the preparations are done.Now its 10 AM.Waiting for the clock to tick 3 PM.Here are a few excerpts from the prep mails sent by organizers.If the trek delivers atleast half of what it prmoised, I can add this to treks of my life list.(As if you've done hundred treks!! Shutit dude, and stop here please..) Ok enough from me.Pics and organizers will take it from here...
From Peter:
"During my previous 4-day OG mission a few months ago 18 out of 25 trekkers ran out of the jungle on the 2nd day as they were under heavy leech attacks and things were getting real bloody ;-) That was the monsoon (leeches need wetness to survive). Now it should be much less but I am pretty sure there will still be some in the shady jungles protected from the sun above.
My main concern in OG is mostly snakes - the western ghats have many venomous snakes and we have seen/encountered many in previous OG treks. So far we did not have any snake bites. Still it always remains a risk as we would be at least 8-10 hours away from any proper medical facility."
"The main challenges will be the tough climbs and careful management of our water reserves (we will be walking for many hours away from the water sources so need to carry extra weight and carefully consume water)."
Got more bloody pics but chose not to upload.
From Biju:
"Ombattu Gudda is a peak at about 971 meters above sea level, and at a distance of about 20 kms from Gundiya Checkpost, inside the Kabbinhole Forest. The peak is so named because there are 9 prominent humps on top, almost in a straight line (Ombattu in Kannada means nine, while Gudda means hill). The forest is extremely virgin with huge bamboos and dense foliage playing host to a range of wildlife from the tiger, leopard, jungle cat, barking deer to gaur, sloth bear and, of course, the wild elephant. There will be tons of fresh elephant dung along the way. As you go along the jeep track, there are many places where one can get lost and hit dead ends. This route is noted as one of the most mysterious routes in the Western Ghats. "
Will be back on tuesday with loads of clicks and experiences.. (Hopefully)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Arsenal-Barca
That was definitely a very entertaining and exciting game.The reason why the match is so significant to me is these two legs will be the first time I' ll be supporting Arsenal.The reason is not because I love Arsenal but it's because I hate Barca more than anything.Why? is again a big topic and can write on it later..
Noteworthy events:
1) Wilshere was absolutely fantastic in the centre of the pitch.His composure on the ball,passing, tackling, closing down in the middle, everything was top notch.
2) I've never saw (in the few Arsenal matches I've watched) Arsenal play so passionately and courageously.They came out in the second half and played with a lot of character.
3) First half, apart from the first ten minutes, I've felt Arsenal played a bit timidly.'Barca' psychological factor played on their minds esp Persie looked a bit shady.
4) Getting keita on for Villa, I think played into arsenal's hands.Pep should've continued playing the same way.He should've brought on Bojan or someone.
5) With every move Arsenal's confidence multiplied.And for this Koscielny and Sczesny were at their very best to deny Barca any opportunities.
Assuming everyone's fit for the second leg and no demoralizing defeats in the runup to the second leg, with the belief and confidence they've got in the firstleg i predict Arsenal to match Barca at Campnou and I expect a draw and Arsenal to progress.. (There'll definitely be no 4-1 overmauling)
Noteworthy events:
1) Wilshere was absolutely fantastic in the centre of the pitch.His composure on the ball,passing, tackling, closing down in the middle, everything was top notch.
2) I've never saw (in the few Arsenal matches I've watched) Arsenal play so passionately and courageously.They came out in the second half and played with a lot of character.
3) First half, apart from the first ten minutes, I've felt Arsenal played a bit timidly.'Barca' psychological factor played on their minds esp Persie looked a bit shady.
4) Getting keita on for Villa, I think played into arsenal's hands.Pep should've continued playing the same way.He should've brought on Bojan or someone.
5) With every move Arsenal's confidence multiplied.And for this Koscielny and Sczesny were at their very best to deny Barca any opportunities.
Assuming everyone's fit for the second leg and no demoralizing defeats in the runup to the second leg, with the belief and confidence they've got in the firstleg i predict Arsenal to match Barca at Campnou and I expect a draw and Arsenal to progress.. (There'll definitely be no 4-1 overmauling)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)