In the land of William Wallace !!!

[I'm just about catching up with the heavy back-log of posts from the past year....and hence, please pardon the obvious anachronistic sequencing of these posts ]

Day 1 - 13th, October, 2007

Ever since I first watched Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning, epic masterpiece - BraveHeart [..my fave movie of all time]… way back when I was around 13, I had been intrigued by Scottish history and captivated by the sheer beauty of its Highlands!

10 years later …when I first got introduced to Scotch, that affair with Scotland was reinforced [...and thanks to Glenfiddich, we've been going steady ever since ]

However, ironic as it may seem, the one place I had missed visiting during my first stint at Britain (between Oct 2006 and May 2007) was Scotland ! So when my company packed me off to UK again on an assignment in Oct 2007, Scotland had its place high up on my agenda.

Thus, on the very first weekend after having landed at Middlesbrough, I found myself headed towards the vibrant Scottish capital of Edinburgh !!! Edinburgh was just about 3 hours drive away from Middlesbrough…..and so, along with my good friend Krishna and a couple of our colleagues [...the 'Star' Satya and Srikanth], we hired a ravishing French beauty to take us there - a gleaming blue Peugeot 207 !!!

Our other colleague - Surekha had opted out and was planning to stay back and enjoy the comforts of the Longlands Hotel, where we were put up during our tenure at Boro ! However, on Saturday morning, the 13th of October, 2007, just as we were about to kick-off our journey, madam changed her mind ….and a while later, an hour behind schedule, the 5 of us set out towards Scotland with the aid of our printed AA maps !

I took on the wheels and Sriki was navigating……however,to our misfortune, one after the other, we kept on missing the turns and taking the wrong routes…..In about 45 minutes, we had driven around 50 miles ….and basically gone around in circles !!! Finally, frustrated and bugged, I followed a board back into Middlesbrough and returned to our hotel. We jettisoned Surekha off [...who by now was glad to be back home] and started out afresh. Trust me, after that, not a single turn was missed ….and it was an almost non-stop ride until Edinburgh

Both Krishna and I shared the wheels and took turns navigating. The countrysides we passed through were absolutely stunning and it was a real pleasure driving through them ! We stopped at the England-Scotland border….and took a few snaps. Later, paying no much attention to the ceaseless army of speed-cameras on the Scottish side, we pushed ahead.

We arrived at Edinburgh late in the afternoon…about 3 hours behind schedule. We knew we were in Scotland, when we saw men walking around in skirts [...or rather a kilts, as they seem to call it :)] ..and there was even a guy playing a bagpiper along the pavement !

Parking was a big problem in the city, and the only spot we could find was along a slope leading up to the Edinburgh castle ! Parking costed 1.75 pounds an hour [....that's about Rs.150 for every hour of parking !!!]… But then, there was no other choice …and this was definitely cheaper than driving around town burning fuel !

Wasting no further time, we marched into the Edinburgh castle. In Braveheart, William Wallace is shown to have been captured by the English troops here ….But however much emphasis Mr.Mel Gibson had given to detail in this magnificent movie, historical accuracy, apparently had not been high on his list of priorities !

The castle was massive - replete with royal chambers, garrisons, chapels and dungeons…….and located at a very vantage point offering some spectacular views of the city below and the sea far ahead !

We managed to get just under a couple of hours in the castle…by then, it was closing time and we were forced to leave.

As we were leaving, just before the main gates, I noticed a signboard leading up to the restrooms….Badly needing a pit-stop, I walked towards it. Just like any other public toilet on earth, there were two sign boards here - the one on the left had a symbol of a figure in a skirt and the one on the right had a symbol without it. I confidently walked towards the right …..But just as I was about to step in, did it strike me !!!

“Holy Cow !!!”, I exclaimed. This was SCOTLAND…..and its the men who wear the skirts here The contemporary laws of sign-boards may apply anywhere else in the world, but not here !

I was confused……‘To Right or To Left??? - That was the question ‘ ! Finally, taking a chance, I walked in towards the right ! And thank heavens, it wasn’t the wrong decision after all !

That done, the next task was to find ourselves accomodation for the night. Satya and I checked up with the Tourist Information centre at the adjacent Waverley Railway station and got a few leads. Later, we walked around the central area and explored the various Youth Hostels in the vicinity. We finally settled for one on the High Street….called ‘Brodie’s’, that cost us under £15 per head for a bunker bed in a dormitory room.

For dinner, we crashed into ‘Namaste Khatmandu’ - a Nepali restaurant, offering wonderful Indian food, served by blonde waitresses ! [...Not a bad combination at all ]

By the time we walked back to our hostel, the city had incredibly transformed from the peaceful, mellow place that it was earlier in the day, to one of the most happenning spots I’d ever come across !!! Edinburgh is reknowned for its night-life and is one of the top party scenes in the UK. 100’s of revellers thronged the streets and all the pubs were bursting at the seams. I badly wanted to try some local Scotch ….but unfortunately for me, my mates were all tee-totallers, and I didn’t have a choice

Day 2 - 14th, October, 2007

Surprisingly, I was the first one to wake up ….perhaps, the resonance effect of the combined snoring of Krishna and Satya had obviated the need for any alarms !!!

It was about 7 in the morning and but was still partially dark outside. I walked up to the window and looked outside at the High Street. It was a complete contrast from last night ….the street was
entirely deserted, except for the odd couple of early birds.

We had our showers and got ready. By 8:15 AM, we had checked out of our dorms and were on the streets again ! The weather was fantastic …… bright and lovely, and the city was looking its
elegant best ! We walked up the High Street and took a turn onto the North Bridge and proceeded towards the Omni car Park - where we had left our car for the night.

Enroute, we stopped by to click a few pictures of the stunning views of the city, that the North Bridge presented … Sriki and Satya even managed to get themselves clicked with an old man wearing
a skirt [ ...yea, they call it a 'Kilt' here] …I didnt bother to join them on that. Honestly, I believe skirts have better purposes than to be wrapped around old men !!!

We pulled the car out of Omni well before the 9AM deadline ….so had to pay just £3.50. Our first agenda for the day was to hit the sea-side. Since it was not listed on any of the tourist
must-see lists, we didn’t really know how to get there or where to pit-stop while there. But neverthless, Krishna drove and I navigated - relying on our maps and some sense of direction ….and
in about 15 minutes we were driving along the clear blue sea !

We found a narrow road leading up to the beach and fortunately, some free parking spaces as well……We spent about an hour and a half on the beach …which Sriki put to good use by posing for his camera in all perceivable ways The beach was massive, but deserted … and we had almost the entire place to ourselves.

Later, we drove back into the city centre and stopped by at Carlton hill - a small hillock overlooking the city and the sea beyond ! The panoramic view from up there was simply SPECTACULAR !!! Needless to say, more photographs followed …and once our hungry stomachs began growling [....an apple each was all that we had had for breakfast], we headed back into the city prying for some interesting place to eat ! Ultimately, we ended up yet again at “Namaste Khatmandu”, as the guys didn’t wanna go elsewhere …Nevertheless, the lunch was stupendous….and was worth every penny of the £40 we had to shell out

Next …with our new-found energy, we attacked the High Street…shopping for Scottish souvenirs. The whole place was thronging with people and was very lively and colourful ! I picked up a bottle of Scotch [..of course, what's a trip to Scotland without having some authentic Scotch :)], some woolen blankets and a Scotland cap !

By about 4 pm, we headed back to Middlesbrough….This time around, Krishna took the wheels first, and got us through the Scottish side of the border ….I took charge across the English side and we arrived back at Boro just before dinner time.

Check out the full album of this Scottish trip at –>

http://picasaweb.google.com/akhilkom/EdinburghScotlandOct2007

I’ve definitely got to visit Scotland again ……Edinburgh is not just the only place this beautiful country has to offer ! But next time, I’d rather take a guided tour …and explore the heart of
Scotland - the Lochs, the Highlands …and not to mention all those Scotch distilleries in between !

The SKY-DIVE !!!

[Its been over a year since that fateful day back in April, 2007, when Ganesh, Anand, Santosh and I jumped off a moving airplane at 13500 feet up in the sky.... and landed using parachutes !!! I've been wanting to pen this post ever since ....but somehow not been able to. Could think of a million excuses, but not one of them substantial :)]

After our initial attempts to sky-dive at the ‘North London Parachute Centre’ in Cambridgeshire had been foiled 2 weeks ago by strong wind conditions [ read my previous post - ‘The dive that didn’t take off!’ ], the pressure on us to give it yet another shot had mounted to inescapable levels !

Quite a lot was at stake here ! More than our honour [we had ranted to the whole world last time, that we were going to sky-dive ], what mattered to us was that if we weren’t able to complete the dive within 6 months, then the £150 that each of us had shelled out would be forfeited ! Moreover, Anand and I were due to return to India for good in the coming month….and since, good weather conditions are something that’s just a bit too much to ask for in Britain, we knew that it had to be now or never !

Thus, on the 14^th of April, 2007 [‘Vishu’ day back home in the God’s-own-country], we geared up to try our luck once again !This time around there were a couple of major changes – for one thing, Bharat couldn’t make it, as he was in India on holiday ! We couldn’t really wait for him to return as both Anand and I had time against us. [ The thinking was that Borat would return from India and do the sky-dive before the 6-month deadline runs out ...but time would reveal that he didn't ...and ended up losing every single penny ]

Secondly, instead of traveling to Cambridge by bus and staying there overnight, this time we hired a Ford Focus and drove up early in the morning…..thus saving time and effort…. plus with the added advantage of having a car at our disposal, in case the weather plays spoil-sport again and we have to resort to some plan B !

Early morning on the 14^th of April, at around 5 am…under the cover of darkness; Anand, Santosh and I set out from Bristol heading towards Cambridge. Anand was at the wheels [.... ‘cos as usual, he wouldn’t let anyone else drive ]. Unfortunately for us, things started going haywire as soon as we kicked off :(. Within minutes of having hit the motorway, we accidentally took a wrong exit and were forced to drive for another 15 miles before we could get a road back ! We lost our way a couple of more times en route to Cambridge, and each time, were forced to take costly detours.

However, the real issue in hand – we realized in due course, was something that was least anticipated – thick smoky Fog !!! [Santosh, who had earlier checked the weather reports for the day, had advised that there were no rains or gusts predicted…however, what he hadn’t said a word about was the extreme fog conditions that were warned …..thinking it was something innocuous :O !]. Within hours, as the sun slowly emerged out, we were able to comprehend the magnitude of the problem we were literally ‘engulfed’ in. The fog was so thick that at certain sections, the visibility was almost nil and it was virtually impossible to drive. We were scared on whether the sky-dives for the day would get cancelled ‘cos of this….Santosh called up the airfield and they confirmed our fears – all flights were GROUNDED at the moment !

It couldn’t have been worse ! Everytime we tried to sky-dive, we were being hit by a different force of nature ! Each trip to Cambridge was costing us a lot of money Getting a chance to dive was proving to be a tougher task than the actual dive in itself !

We contemplated turning back, but then Ganesh would arrive in Cambridge from London and we had agreed to pick him up there……and so we drove on.

We arrived at Cambridge a couple of hours late, thanks to the fog and all those detours we had taken. On picking Ganesh, we headed straight towards the airfield. It was slightly brighter by now, but the fog cover hadn’t really cleared. We still were confused on what to do - whether to go ahead, or rather drop the plan, turn around and resort to Plan B !!! The trouble was… though we had all been talking about Plan B as a backup option, no one had really planned what Plan B would be !!! [yea, just how stupid could we be ].

Somewhere along the way, we pulled over by the side of the road, and pondered…weighing our options. It was Ganesh who finally convinced us to push on and still give it a shot. We had come this far, so might as well go there and try our luck. After all, we had nothing more to lose.

When we reached the airfield, the scene was quite similar to how it was 2 weeks ago when we were there. All the flights were grounded and hoards of frustrated sky-diving enthusiasts wiled away their time in the lounge. We went into the office and registered. Our slot numbers were in the range of 50’s, which meant that, should the weather improve and they actually start diving, then we’d have to wait for over 50 people to complete their dives before we get our turns !

Having completed our training 2 weeks ago, we didn’t have to go through the torture again. Hence, we went into the lounge and sat around waiting.

At around noon, the first signs of hope began to surface. The fog was fast clearing up and the bright blue sky emerged through the gaps !

Soon, there was a flurry of activity as they finally announced that the dives were about to begin Our joy knew no bounds….yet we weren’t really sure if we’d get a chance, as 50 people would have to complete their dives first…..and all this would have to be over before sunset …..else we’d be screwed !!!

The first flight took off carrying about 5-6 divers, their trainers and camera-men. It was about 10 minutes later, that we noticed the spectators on the ground screaming out loud and pointing towards the heavens. We looked up in the direction that they were pointing to …and up there in the sky, was a tiny speck ….which happened to be the airplane …and out of it a few minute dots emerged !!!

The first batch of divers had taken-off !!! [Gosh, 13,500 feet was really really high !!!]

It took another 10 minutes or so before the divers finally touched down using their parachutes ! About 10 minutes later the plane landed, and was ready to take on the next batch of people. So in effect, one batch took about half an hour in all. Santosh and I quickly ran through the mathematics and figured out that we wouldn’t get our turns until late in the evening…if at all we do ! Any further delays would prove quite costly, as we’d have to be done with it before the sun goes down

From the next batch on, the jumps progressed in full swing …We came across quite a lot of first-timers, men, women , professionals etc…. diving and landing in quick succession. The ambience at the airfield was totally upbeat !

Finally, at around 4 or 5 in the evening, Santosh and I were summoned for our dives ! Yea, it was much sooner than what we had expected …..seemed as though few folks didn’t have the nerves and had pulled out in the last minute Ganesh and Anand were still awaiting their turns and would have to be in the next batch.

Santosh and I marched into the hangar, got into a bunch of blue body-suits, helmets, goggles and the like…and were introduced to our respective trainers and cameramen. My trainer was a huge, bulky guy, and we practiced the basic dive positions that we were supposed to assume during the jump.

When the plane touched down following the previous batch, we were escorted into it. There were about 4-5 first timers in the flight, 2-3 pro’s, a few cameramen……and all of us sat on the floor ! Before I could realize it, the doors were slammed shut and the plane took-off ! There were no seat-belts, no safety announcements, no pretty air-hostesses and definitely no welcome drinks !!!

By now, my heart was beating faster than ever before, and as the plane went on gaining altitude, the excitement levels inside kept building ! Just before reaching the 13500 feet mark, all the first-timers, including me, were strapped on to our respective trainers. I double-checked the cable to ensure that it was secure - after all, my entire life depended on it !

At 13,500 feet, the green bulbs finally glowed and the doors were swung open !!! Instantly; powerful, cold winds started gushing into the cabin…..

Initially, the professional divers jumped off. Next one of the other first-timers leapt off with her trainer …then it was Santosh’s turn ! I hardly noticed him diving, ‘cos by now, my trainer was leading us closer and closer towards the door. My camera man was close by too. Another first-timer jumped off …and NOW …the MOMENT had finally arrived !!!

First, the camera-man moved towards the door and holding on to the railing at the top, he carefully led his body outside, whilst still clinging on to the moving plane !!!

My jaws dropped !!! I just couldn’t believe my eyes – this guy was standing on a small railing outside the moving plane in mid-air…… hanging on to the top of the door with one hand and shooting us with the camera fitted onto his helmet !

As the trainer slowly pushed me forward to the edge of the door [with him strapped on behind me], I got my first glimpse of the earth below …….and that was when I came to realize how high 13500 feet actually is !

FREAKING HELL ……!!! It was as if we were on the edge of the STRATOSPHERE !!! A little higher and I could be sitting on the moon [Ok, thats an exaggeration ] …..The curvature of the earth was clearly visible and we were so DAMN high that I could hardly make out any of the structures on the ground!

The trainer tapped me once on my shoulder, which meant I had to take on the initial dive position …that is, with my hands folded and grabbing on the straps on my shoulders and my body arched forward. [It wasn’t possible to speak anything audible with the wind slamming on our faces, and so we had, during the initial training, agreed upon these ingenious ‘shoulder-tapping’ communication mechanisms]!

Before I could realize it or mentally prepare myself, the trainer PLUNGED OUT of the airplane …carrying me along with him…. and I was AIR-BORNE !!!

Time FROZE !!! The silence was deafening !!!

Out of the blue, I got jolted into reality……and the next thing I realize, we were tumbling and twisting and somersaulting through the air [I guess it was the massive weight difference between us that caused this] ! Within seconds of being air-borne, the trainer opened a smaller chute, which I guess was meant for balance. …and almost instantly we stopped tumbling ….. But was still freely falling down towards the earth ……at UNBELIEVABLE VELOCITIES !!!

The trainer tapped again on my shoulder …which meant that I had to assume the free-fall position – by stretching my arms out wide ! But I hardly felt it as I was still pretty shaken-up by the ‘turn’ of events ! Soon he was tapping harder and then almost beating on my shoulders, while at the same time screaming out loud into my ears ! That ultimately helped, and I got the message

As I tried to compose myself and get a ‘hang’ of the situation, the instructor started screaming into my ears yet again ! This time he said something like, “Look at the camera ….look at the camera !!!”

“Where the %*&* is the camera?”, I shouted back.

He pointed out straight ahead….and right in front of us was the camera man…..cutting through the air and moving closer and closer towards us, all the while shooting us with the camera fixed on his head ! It was unbelievable……I mean, where on earth [..or rather the 'sky'] did he come from now ??? He had jumped off a couple of seconds before we took off from the plane, and now he was hovering […..or rather ‘falling’] right next to us !

I tried to smile at the camera ….but the muscles on my face just wouldn’t move !!! The tremendous force of the cold air hitting on my face had almost paralysed my senses !

Looking back at the experience, I simply cannot describe what was running through my head at that instant …the feeling of free-fall was absolutely INCREDIBLE……totally OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD !!!

In about 30 seconds or so that the free-fall lasted, we had dropped from 13,500 feet to about 5000 feet !!! [ Now ….you don’t have to be an Isaac Newton to figure out how fast we were falling]

Speaking about Newton, too bad sky-diving wasn’t around in Cambridge way back in the 17^th century when he walked around the Universities here….else, he needn’t have gone through the trauma of an apple falling on his head to discover Gravity

At 5000 feet, the parachute was opened by the trainer. Instantly, our acceleration towards the earth was arrested with a jolt and a tremendous force pulled us back up…The impact to the chest at this stage was really heavy, nevertheless, bearable !

Now that the chutes were open, everything suddenly calmed down ! We were falling at a very gentle pace, and there was nothing more to fear ……but not for long !

The trainer showed me the controls of the parachute. There were two straps that he held on to, in order to manoeuvre the flight. He even offered me the controls and showed me how pulling the left strap would tilt us towards the left, and the right would accordingly do the reverse.

Next, he said we could do some spirals……. Sounded interesting ! But the moment he pulled on that left strap, we swung on towards the left in a huge semi-circle ! I wasn’t prepared for this and it freaked the hell out of me ! ! ! Next, he said he was going to swing on to the right, and asked me to look up towards the parachute while we were at it !

Before I could realize it, we were being hurled violently towards the right and just as he had requested, I looked up – and up there, I could see the chute and beyond that, was the EARTH !!! [We were in a nearly 45-degree angle with the chutes below and ourselves on top !]

That’s it ! “No more spirals”, I told the trainer. Thankfully, the remainder of the fall was slow and mellow, as we carefully navigated the chute towards the centre of the field. It was a very unique feeling – being suspended in the air, having absolutely nothing underneath my feet !

In about 10 minutes or so, the ground started to appear within reach ….and a while later, we landed on the ground …..right in front of our camera-man ! The trainer had manoeuvred us precisely onto the marked spot in the middle of the field !

As I savoured the sweet feeling of accomplishment….and the earth beneath my feet, the instructor released me from the straps. I knelt on the ground for a second ….and then, got up, thanked the instructor and the camera-man and walked triumphantly back to the building. Santosh, who had landed a few minutes before, welcomed me there ! He was pretty much on a high as well. Together, we went into the projector room, where we were shown the videos of our jumps. The videos had come out superb !!! The lady said that the DVDs would be mailed to us in about 2 weeks time…and we could hardly wait !

Ganesh and Anand went in the next batch. Ganesh had some electrifying adventures even before he got onto the plane [.... which he didn't reveal to us until much later]. Our man had somehowfound himself stuck inside the toilet just 15 minutes before his scheduled take-off time ! But then, thanks to a little presence of mind and his trademark audacity, he had extricated himself from the mess, just in time to make it onto the flight !

Ganesh was the first to land ….and the guy was exuberant as ever ! Santosh and I joined him for the screening of his video…and I must admit, this inarguably had to be the coolest sky-dive video we’d ever seen !!! This guy’s seriously got some real nerves ! While the rest of the divers were biting their nails, our man was bantering with them and making faces at the camera

The last person to land was Anand and we all crowded around him as he walked down the tarmac……He seemed exhausted and quite visibly dazed ! Sluggishly he dragged himself onto on a bench and we looked up at his dazzled face hoping to catch his initial words about the dive experience. But he just blindly looked back at us …completely dumbstruck !!! That was when we realized those words weren’t going to come …..atleast not in the near future !

That silence lasted well over an hour - during which he just sat there with his head hanging low, staring at the ground below his feet !! [Seemed to us that he just couldn't appreciate enough, the comfort of having the earth below his feet ! ]

Finally just before the sun went down, he spoke ! That was when we got to know about his experience ….about how all the spirals they performed had totally freaked the spirits out of him !

Now that Anand was back to normal, it was time for us to leave. Anand took the wheels, as he still wouldn’t allow any of us to drive ….and we headed back gallantly into Cambridge town. There, once again we visited ‘Pipasha’ the supposedly ‘Indian’ [..but actually Bangladeshi] restaurant [….where we had dined in our previous adventure to Cambridge] and celebrated our GREAT achievement !

Ganesh split up to catch his bus to London, while the rest of us drove back into Bristol, reaching home at about 1 AM ! It wasn’t until much later that I revealed the whole sky-dive adventure to my folks ….and trust me, to this day, whenever I go out on a trip, my mom severely reprimands me against it …. that I can’t even think of doing something like this ever again !!!

By the way, check out the full video of my dive at –>

It cost me a 100 pounds for this video, hence, please do watch it and don’t forget to comment on it

[Disclaimer: What happens at precisely 2.00 minutes into the video was completely unintentional, and I hadn't even realized it until I saw the video :)]

The ‘Dive’ that didn’t take off !

[Its been a year since I first wanted to write this post ! Call it the 'Heights of procrastination'...but hey, as they say - its better late than never ]

1^st April, 2007 – otherwise known as April Fool’s Day ! A day - the less ordinary would most likely doodle away playing pointless pranks on each other ………But to Bharat, Anand, Santosh, Ganesh and I, this was the day we chose to rewrite our personal histories and attempt the unthinkable […and almost nearly succeeded] !!!

It was Santosh and Bharat who had first come out with idea a few months ago. But at that time, the proposition had sounded absolutely insane ! I mean, who in the right state of mind would think of flying up in an airplane to 13,500 feet in the sky …open the doors and then JUMP off into thin air …….allowing your body to be thrust towards the earth at enormous velocities…..and then finally, open up a parachute and land safely onto the ground !!!

PHEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW !!!

Welcome to SKY-DIVING – the ultra-extreme, adrenaline-packed, thrilling yet spine-chilling sport, that only the bravest of the brave may dare attempt !

When I first heard about it, I had laughed it off……but then, one sleepy afternoon, when Bharat and Santosh showed me sample videos on the website, I got instantly hooked ! There were many agencies around Britain offering the facility…but the nearest one for us was just outside of Cambridge. We looked at all the details on the website. For beginners like us, they wouldn’t allow us to jump alone, but would be strapped on to a trainer – who would operate the chutes. Though it looked a bit scary, we were assured that safety was well taken care of.

However, at around £150 for a jump and another £100 for a DVD video, the damage to the pockets would be unavoidable … Nevertheless, for something that we’d do just once in a life-time [……unless of course, for pure emergency reasons J ], it seemed worth every penny !

The website said that we’d get a small discount if we go in a group of 5. So the next task in hand was to find 2 more accomplices. Understandably, this wasn’t really the easiest of tasks - there were people who’d rather enlist for the Iraq war, than sky-dive with us ! Finally, we found our 4^th comrade in Anand Ramakrishna! Following that, one phone call to my good friend and partner-in-crime – Ganesh (based in London), and we had our team of 5 J

On 31^st March, Saturday afternoon, Bharat, Anand, Santosh and I boarded a National Express bus from Bristol to London, reaching there late in the evening. At London Victoria bus station, we were joined by Ganesh and boarded another bus to take us to Cambridge, arriving there in the night.

Having had major plans to party the night away in Cambridge, we were quite disappointed to see that much of the town had already shut down…and city was almost entirely deserted. Cambridge was a very small town, and hardly had any night-life at all [.....outside of all those University hostels , that is ] . Santosh had booked us rooms in a tradional Inn, and following the sign-boards on the streets, and with a little help from the odd persons we ran into, we walked all the way to the place on Newmarket Road.

En route, we approached a stretch of road that was curved in a convex manner. Around the corner, was a sign-board (hanging outside a restaurant), that we could only see a part of, due to the curvature of the road. Initially, it looked as if the board read ‘Asha’. [Not bad..…an Indian restaurant was just what we wanted!] As we got closer, another alphabet appeared round the corner and the board now read ‘Pasha’ !!! [Ok, must be an Afghani eat-out] However, when we finally negotiated the curve, we could see the whole board….and it read ‘Pipasha’ ! Turned out to be a Bangladeshi restaurant, but of course, marketed as ‘Indian’, just like all Bangla or Pakistani restaurants in the UK.

Less than 50 metres ahead was our Inn. We checked into our rooms and after dumping our luggage, walked back to Pipasha and treated ourselves to a couple of Kingfishers and an amazing tandoori meal ! We later heard that Pipasha was the best ‘Indian’ restaurant in Cambridge, and must admit - it truly lived up to its name ! I’d totally recommend this place to anyone visiting Cambridge. Check out their website -> http://www.pipasha-restaurant.co.uk/?id=contact [….No, I don’t get paid for this ]

The next morning, we rose early. The taxi van we had booked to take us to the airfield arrived at the appointed time. The day was sunny and bright, and there were no signs of clouds or rain. We had come to know earlier that the jumps would be permitted only in perfect weather conditions [ ..something that’s a little too much to ask for in Britain]. But that morning, looking up at the clear blue sky, we couldn’t help ourselves from smirking with the confidence that nothing could possibly come in between us and our sky-diving dreams for the day !

After about ¾ of an hour driving through lush green fields, we finally reached the airfield. The place was almost in the middle of nowhere - endless green stretches of land extended as far as the eyes could see. Far ahead on one side, the open landscape was broken by a series of huge wind-mills, that kept spinning furiously, as ifthere was no tomorrow !

Upbeat and confident, we walked into the office room of the airfield. But what they told us then hit our spirits like a ton of bricks ! Apparently, we had overlooked one crucial weather element – the WIND !

That 1^st of April in the spring of 2007, unfortunately it was a very windy day in Cambridge. The permissible wind speed for sky diving was around 20 knots, but then it was more than double that figure that day. The guys pointed out towards that wind-sock that stood in the middle of the field. It was nearly horizontal

We were told that we could either wait around, hoping that the conditions would improve by noon [which they advised was unlikely] or go back and come again another day ! It sounded quite simple to them …but to us who had come all the way here from Bristol, taking 2 buses and a van; and staying overnight at an Inn …it was too hard to digest

Shattered and dejected, we moved into the adjacent lounge area and settled down on a couch…trying to come to terms with reality. We weren’t alone …there were lots of other people in the lounge including children, moms, grannies - all of them equally dejected ! We ordered some hot chocolate and a light breakfast and sat down pondering – a lot of “why, what if and when’s” ran through our heads ! But we knew there was nothing much we could do than sit and hope that the weather would improve. We were told that we could atleast complete our initial training today…..so that whenever we actually jump, we wouldn’t have to go through the sessions again. That sounded reasonable and we followed the instructor into the adjacent hangars and underwent the training. This completed, we were formally licensed to dive…if only the weather Gods permitted.

We went back to the lounge and set out on the awfully boring task of waiting, hoping the winds would ease down. There were 2 internet PC’s in the hall, but were almost continuously occupied. In the adjacent hall, we played a few games of pool and once we got bored of it, picked up a giant jigsaw puzzle having a picture of a busy street in London on it…and religiously started working on it.

A couple of hours passed by and the windsock stood as horizontal as ever ! [Bloody hell … they build the airfield right next to a wind-farm with all those wind-mills, and how on earth can they expect it not to be windy ? ]

Every half an hour or so, we could see that an official took off in a small Cessna plane, hovered around the airfield [possibly collected weather related data] and came down again.

Soon we were getting bugged of the jigsaw as well Anand decided to go out and shoot some pictures with the Cessna plane. He asked us to join him, but none of us obliged, except for Bharat … we were still quite involved in the jigsaw and was reluctant to leave the comfort and warmth of the building !

A few minutes later, through the glass windows we saw Anand and Bharat accompanied by the pilot of the Cessna walking towards the plane. We wondered why Anand had dragged along the pilot as well when all he wanted was to take a snap with the Cessna ! We continued to focus on the jigsaw…… but from the corner of our eyes noticed that Anand and the pilot were now boarding the Cessna, while Bharat stood there outside the fence. [OK …maybe they’re going to take a picture of him sitting inside the cockpit !]

The next thing we realize - the propellers started spinning and the engines roared into life ! “WHAT THE HELL” – all 3 of us exclaimed in unison ! Instantly, we were on our feet, and having left the jigsaw behind, ran outside towards the fence, just as the Cessna taxied onto the makeshift runway.

We stared at each other in disbelief as the Cessna charged ahead on the runway, and took off …taking Anand and the pilot up into the sky !

“What the *&*”%* is going on ?” , we asked Bharat ! He smiled and explained how they had both gone into the office asking for permission to shoot with the Cessna, and this generous pilot had offered to give them both a ride in the plane !

This was unbelievable !

We watched as the Cessna soared up into the sky, took a large circle and slowly started to descend back onto the runway. But just as it was about to touch-down, the plane shot up again. Anand was clearly having the time of a lifetime.

After another large circle, the Cessna did finally land, and off came a triumphant Anand – with an expression as if he had single-handedly won the 2^nd World War ! Bharat rushed towards the plane and got in, as Santosh, Ganesh and I just stood there scratching our heads !

Bharat got just one large circle and as soon as he was back on the ground, Santosh and I ran towards the plane. I eagerly asked the pilot if we could fancy a ride as well ? “Sure thing”, he said and was willing to give each of us a round.

Enthusiastically I got into the cockpit beside him and strapped on my seat-belts. This was a trainer flight, and so all the controls including the steering were duplicated in front of me as well …but the pilot ordered not to touch anything ! He then gave me a pair of headsets…..which proved to be quite useful, as the Cessna was very loud when airborne.

Now, we were ready to go…..the Cessna slowly taxied down to the end of the field and turned around. The next thing I realized, we were charging ahead and after a very short run-up, we took off …up into the sky ! The feeling was amazing …I had once traveled inside the engine of a passenger train, back in India, but flying in the cockpit of an airplane was really something ! We soon ascended to about 1000 feet, and by this time, we could really sense the power of the winds as the Cessna was wobbling quite badly. The pilot was friendly and chatted all throughout the flight, telling me of how he also comes from somewhere around Bristol, and that flying was just a part-time hobby for him. He radioed the weather conditions back to the office down below, and it was anything but positive news

We took a large circle up in the air, and I feasted my eyes on the wonderful English countryside below – the endless stretches of green fields, the lakes and the army of wind-mills incessantly spinning in the distance !

Soon, we began our descent and slowly the earth started getting closer and closer, until finally, we touched down ! I thanked the pilot and got off, Santosh and Ganesh had been waiting for their turns. Once, everyone had had a chance, we all lined up with the generous pilot, and shot some snaps. We went back into the lounge and played the jigsaw until about noon, when they finally announced that there would be no jumps at all that day !

But by now, we didn’t really complain. The free Cessna rides that we got had ensured that the day was not entirely wasted. We rang up a couple of cabs and went back into Cambridge town, stopping at the Grafton Centre mall. Enroute, we passed through some of the most beautiful English villages I had ever seen …and when the radio in the cab blared out U2’s “It’s a beautiful day”, I couldn’t help but wonder how inappropriate it was !

At the Grafton Centre, we had some junk lunch and set out to explore the town. We had until late evening, for our return bus to London […and subsequently Bristol] …and so we just wandered around …through the High Street, cutting across the parks …watching the students and families recreating under the Sun. Someone suggested that we try the Punt boat-rides at the river, so off we went. Even before we got to the river side, we were approached by students, canvassing us to ride on their boats …..we ignored them all, and excused ourselves ……but that was before we ran into Monica

This girl was different. She came up to us and introduced herself. Anand went ahead and presumptuously took the liberty of introducing us as well. She then explained about the punt boat rides [..which now we all had a sudden interest in taking] and that it was £10 per head for adults, £8 for students and £6 for children.

Whatever said and done, 10 quid was a little too much for a punt boat ride !!! Sensing our reluctance, she asked us, “Are you guys students ?”. When we said ‘No’, she smiled and said, “Maybe you can be students for today and I can give you tickets for £8”[....This girl could easily sell a helmet to a Kamikazi pilot]

“Can we be children for today, and pay £6?”, I asked.

But she didn’t really reply to that. She merely handed us 5 tickets costing £8 each. Next she led us along the quay towards the boats. Some of the students on the passing boats serenaded her…..quite evidently she was quite popular around here J She led us on to one of the docked boats, in which we occupied half the space. The other half was taken by a family. Our punter was a young student, who shoved the long oar right into the river bed and punted the boat ahead. For the next hour, we blissfully sailed by many of the beautiful historic college buildings and under a number of ancient bridges across the river, with the boatman narrating the history behind all that we saw….It was quite an experience to see Cambridge from the river. It looked as though all the college buildings were on the banks of the river Cam.

One of the most impressive buildings that we passed by was the King’s College Chapel, established in 1446 !

Later in the evening, we stopped by an Indian restaurant called ‘Gandhi’. Seeing the name, we thought it might be alcohol-free, but just like all other Indian restaurants here, they served Kingfishers

Finally, we took our bus to London and after bidding good-bye to Ganesh, proceeded towards Bristol in another bus.

We vowed to come back to the airfield when the weather’s good …and in precisely 2 weeks time, we found ourselves heading towards Cambridge again !!!

So did we end up being second-time lucky ? To know the answer and much more, read on !

Where am i ???

Its been around 8 months since I last blogged ! After the account of that trip to StoneHenge and Bath, back in February, there’s been nothing !

So where the hell have I been and what have I been upto ? ? ?

I’ve been asked this question way too many times ……but never quite had the chance to answer ……….until perhaps now ……….Its always better late than never !!!

Well, its a big story actually ……….Since February, I’ve been terribly tied-up and extremely screwed-up at work with the MVNO project back at Bristol ….then there were these tours to Switzerland and Paris …..followed by more screw-ups at work …then the Sky-diving adventure at Cambridge ….and the trip to Spain…and yet again, more screw-ups and then the much awaited flight back to Bangalore in May …..to be welcomed by much more screwed-up projects at offshore ….followed by some hard-core Java programming [ ....of course, not to forget the screw-ups ] , followed by some training in WebMethods ……and then, yet another flight back to England …….

And so here I am - sitting at an internet cafe at a pretty screwed-up English town called Middlesbrough - whose recent claim to fame has been the fact that it thrashed all competition and got crowned the ‘Worst Place to Live in the UK’ by official BBC rankings !!! The reasons quoted by BBC were high crime rates, low job oppurtunities and poor quality of education ! Well, not that I’ve been impacted by any of these crucial factors …but what bothers me the most is that all shops around here close down at 5:30 pm, and that we have almost no internet access here at all ! Neither in the office nor back at our inn!

Quite cut-off from civilization, literally !

Nevertheless, there has been some great plus points as well …..for, I’ve been able to do the one thing I missed out during my previous innings here at UK - which was to make a trip to Scotland ! Just last weekend, my friend Krishna and I hired a Peugeot 207 and drove up to Edinburgh, Scotland !

Looking back, inarguably ……… the last 12 months would definitely have to be one of the most eventful eras in my life ……for I’ve had the fortune of visiting places that I had never dreamt of visiting and been able to do things I had never imagined myself being able to !

To cut a long story short, here’s a concise check-list of some of the stuff I’ve been upto since September 2006 : :))))

- Trek into the centre of the Great Pyramid in Egypt ? - check
- visit 4500-year old mummies of Pharoah Ramses-II and family ? - check
- Take a boat ride across the river Nile in Cairo ? - check
- Pray at the largest Hindu temple in England at Birmingham ? - check
- Visit the Manchester United Stadium at Old Trafford, Manchester ? - check
- Visit the Universities at Oxford and Cambridge ? - check
- Take a boat ride across the river Thames in London ? - check
- View the Kohinoor diamond at the Tower of London ? - check
- Photograph along with Aishwarya Rai at the Madame Tussauds wax museum at London ? - check
- Visit the Sherlock Holmes museum at 221B, Baker Street ? - check
- Stand on the Zero Meridian line at Greenwich ? - check
- Visit the capital of Wales - Cardiff ? - check
- Visit the 5000 year old StoneHenge ? - check
- Witness the midnight fireworks at the London eye on New Year’s eve ? - check
- Play with snow on top of the Swiss Alps ? - check
- visit the UN offices in Geneva ? - check
- Shop for traditional Swiss cow-bells at Zurich ? - check
- Jump off a plane from 13,500 feet up in the sky at Cambridge ? - check
- Land using a parachute ? - check
- …..in one piece ??? - check check

- Visit the Templar church in London (depicted in the Da Vinci code) ? - check
- Take a boat ride across the Seine in Paris ? - check
- climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower ? - check
- View the ‘Mona Lisa’ at the Louvre in Paris ? - check
- Witness the exotic ‘Moulin Rouge’ musical in Paris - check
- Walk around the endless corridors of the Palace of Versailles ? - check
- Visit the St.Sulpice church in Paris (depicted in the Da Vinci code) ? - check
- Witness bull-fighting at Madrid ? - check
- Ride across the length and breadth of Barcelona on a bicycle ? - check

- Get nearly frozen to death by sleeping over-night on the platform at London’s Paddington railway station !!! - check
- Repeat the same feat the very next week on the same platform at Paddington - check
- Climb on top of the Edinburgh Castle at Scotland ? - check
Yeah, its been quite a long year …..and unfortunately much of the adventures are yet to be blogged ! With every passing day, it seems to be getting more and more of a gargantuan task ….nevertheless, a man has got to do what he’s got to do ! So with ample time and some Smirnoff in hand, might as well do it now !

These Romans are crazy !

18-Feb 2007

Can anyone believe that my friend and colleague Bharat aka Borat had NOT GONE TO BATH even once, in the last 8 months or so that he had been here in UK ? Disgusting, isn’t it ? How could anybody do that…..( or rather not do that)? 1 or 2 days may have been fine ….even a week could have been pardoned ….. but 8 whole months ??? That’s simply untenable !

Ok, maybe I’m not the right person to say this ….After all, I was the one who had landed in Egypt back in September …..and a couple of days later, learnt that I wasn’t carrying any toothpaste, which technically meant that I hadn’t brushed my teeth in 2 days and didn’t even realize it! ……but atleast in my case, its just been 4 months here in Bristol without going to Bath !

Ok…..before you get wierd ideas about the levels of personal hygiene that I and my colleagues maintain here in UK, lemme just clarify that what we’re talking about here is not about ‘having a bath’, but about ‘going to Bath’ [ ... as in, beginning with a capital B - Bath ] …..which as a matter of fact, happens to be an ancient, historic, extremely gorgeous English City that lay about 20 miles away from Bristol !

So finally, in an attempt to catch up with the backlog, we decided to head towards Bath on Sunday - the 18th of Feb. There was me, Bharat, Santosh, Rakesh, Anil Curpad, Anil’s brother who had come down from London, Ganesh - my good friend and partner in crime, who again had come down from London and Raghu [Raghavendra Pai ] - our manager and BU head, who was here from Bangalore to attend some client meetings and had agreed to tag along !

So early on Sunday, the 8 of us caught a train from the Temple Meads station at Bristol and in about 40 minutes, disembarked at Bath.

Now, if you thought London was an old, historic city, then Bath is old enough to be its great-great-great-great-grandfather ! The historic remains found in this ancient, picturesque town pre-dates almost any other in Great Britain.

In the early part of this millenium, (the year 43 AD to be precise), the Romans had invaded Britain, or Brittania as they called it. They had lived and ruled here for a few centuries, until the Anglo-Saxons came and took over.

Our friends the Romans, as history [....and Asterix comics ] has it, were extremely hygienic people ! Whereever, they lived, they built these huge public bathing complexes, where they spent a better part of their days - scrubbing and preening themselves. Over the centuries, the Romans had constructed numerous roads, monuments and other structures in diffent parts of Britain, virtually leaving behind their imprints all over !

One of the best preserved of these imprints lay today at Bath - a huge, king-sized Roman Bathing complex [ No prizes for guessing where the city gets its name from !]

And that was where we headed first. From the railway station, the Roman Baths were barely 10 minutes walking distance away. Unfortunately they charged 10 pounds per head, so all together, we had to shell out a whopping 80 pounds, just to see the place where some old Caesar, may have scrubbed the dirt off his back some 2000 years ago!

But the ruins in fact, were extremely well-preserved [ Yeah, the Oxymoron is intended ! ] ! The complex in itself, may have been as good as any modern Spa, in its prime. There was a huge central bath, that was fed by a natural hot spring, plus there were numerous other smaller pools and complexes, serving varied different purposes. Some of the pools were meant for warm water, others for chilled or luke-warm. How the Romans managed to do it was to have the floor wooden, with hollow spaces underneath, which could be heated by burning logs !

It was a marvellous bit of engineering ! However, Ganesh and I had just one phrase ringing in our heads - “These Romans are crazy” - the phrase popularized by one of our favourite comic characters - Obelisk !

Next, we moved into another room which had a huge circular pool, filled with water abt 2-3 feet deep. But what lay there in the crystal clear waters of the pool literally startled us ……….. our jaws dropped almost to the ground, and our eyes nearly bulged out of its sockets ! We all stood there for a few moments in awe !

No, no……. it wasn’t Pamela Anderson - but the whole pool was glittering - for its entire floor was stacked with coins and currency notes !

Turns out these westereners are crazy too ! And pretty superstitious, contrary to public belief….Where ever they see a pond or a well, its customary for them to throw a coin and make a wish ! Here, I could spot almost every possible currency - pounds, euros, dollars etc….some idiot had even thrown a £20 note !!!

Ganesh and I looked around - unfortunately, there was a continious stream of tourists coming in…….had we got just about a 5 second respite, we’d have dived into the pool, collected some of the treasures and made good our escape!

We spent sometime in the souvenir shop, and I picked up my customary postcards and a few other memoroblia. By this time, we were all hungry, and decided to check-out the nearby Thai restaurant. It was the first time most of us were trying out Thai cuisine, but must admit, I didn’t quite fancy it.
While the veggies risked something conspicously named ‘Phak soup’ along with some rice + veg dish, Raghu, Ganesh and I settled for some chicken !

Next, it was time to head-off to the StoneHenge. We had booked ourselves on a guided tour to go there, and so we headed down to the centre and boarded the small van that was awaiting us. Our guide cum driver - a sweet lady named Sally welcomed us and drove us through the uneven terrain of Bath on the road towards Salisbury, all the while entertaining us with narrations about the sights and sounds of the places we passed by.

We started out driving through the ‘ghats’, and all around we could see beautiful country houses that stood at vantage points along the slopes. Over the centuries, Bath had been attracting the aristocracy and gentry from all over the country. Today it is home to many of the Rich and Famous, who choose to live quietly amidst the enchanting valleys and the green slopes of the town. Sally excitedly told us that Johnny Depp too has a house here.

Quite a while later, we were passing through a place called Wiltshire, having beautiful wide open meadows, stretching as far as the eyes could see. Sally explained that these were military-owned territories and that quite a bit of their training exercises happen here. As we passed by, she pointed out a very unusual board by the side of the road. Now, till date, I had assumed that the “Warning - Camels crossing” board I had seen somewhere in the United Arab Emirates, or the “Slow down - Wild Fowl Crossing” board that stands near my office here in Bristol; were the wierdest possible, but this one was clearly one huge step ahead……. It read “Warning - Tanks crossing” !!! (and had the caritaure of a battle-tank on it)

[......sadly I couldn't grab a picture of that signboard as were on the highway and travelling quite fast ! ]

Another very interesting fact about Wiltshire is that, though it seems amazingly serene and calm, having hardly any population; this place is quite active and happenning as far as the ‘Paranormal’ is concerned !!!

For one thing, huge number of UFO sightings are reported in this area of England ! Secondly, the place is famous for another very mysterious phenomena - Crop Circles ! [If you had seen Manoj.N.Shyamalan's 'Signs', you'd know what I am talking about ]

Basically, Crop Cirlces are these huge geometric patterns of considerable intricacy and dramatic effect, that suddenly appear in fields due to (unexlpained) flattening of plants in symettric manners. The mystery is that these patterns appear suddenly, within a span of a few hours perhaps, and no body knows how the plants can be so symmetrically flattenned to produce this effect.

The patterns generally are huge - spanning acres of land and yet so geometrically precise, that it does seem unlikely that they are manually created by some jobless prankster !

The thing about Wiltshire is that this is considered the Crop-circle capital of the world ! About 90% of the crop-cirlces reported in England are from within a 40-mile radius around the Stone Henge !

Unfortunately, we were not able to spot any Crop Cirlces enroute, but our guide showed us pictures of some that had formed around this area in the past years….. The most intriguing of them all was one that had appeared in 1996. It consisted of a series of Huge circles, right across the plains bordering the StoneHenge. Apparently, the patterns were formed within a span of just about half-an-hour and at that time, there were lots of tourists at the Stone Henge, but none of them had noticed anything peculiar being done or how the cirlces were formed !

Perhaps the military activities in the nearby areas have something to do with it all ? Hmmm, quite a case it could be for Agents Mulder and Scully !

Just as promised, exactly an hour later we pulled into the Stone Henge car park. Sally led us through the crowds and got us into the StoneHenge.

Everything about the StoneHenge was mysterious in itself. No one knew how it was built or for what purpose it was built. The huge stones that constitute the StoneHenge had actually been quarried in the mountains of Wales and transported hundreds of miles to this location where it had been standing for nearly 5000 years !

Our guide mentioned that the StoneHenge lies at the confluence of hypothetical energy zones or ‘ley lines’, and was supposed to be a source of positive energy !

Nevertheless, it was 365 degrees of sheer beauty…….lush green meadows stretched as far as the eyes could see !

Almost exactly 5 months ago, I was at another ancient, 5000 year old structure - the Pyramids ! ……and now the StoneHenge - equally old and about half as much mysterious, the only difference being that this is located in the middle of endless lush green fields, where as the former was in the middle of the endless yellow sands of the desert.
Then I had been nearly fried by the scorching sun , but now I was freezing !

[Striking a pose....... L to R - Ganesh, me, Anil, Borat, Rakesh, 'blonde girl' and Santosh ]

We circled the StoneHenge, taking pictures of the Stones from every angle and finally boarded Sally’s van. The return journey was rather uneventful, but Ganesh and I, made it otherwise, by striking up a conversation with the American school-teacher, who shared the back seat with us !

We got back to Bath by around 4 pm, and walked around exploring the exotic town.More photography sessions later, Raghu, Ganesh and I split from the group and dropped into a local pub. Sally had earlier explained to us that the secret behind the relaxed, laidback attitude of the ‘Bathers’ [ ...if the people of London are called the Londoners, why not the people of Bath as 'Bathers' ? ] was Cider - an alcoholic drink that tastes just like apple juice - simply because of the fact that it is made from apple juice ! Bath was home to the cider and she had adviced all of us to try it as it was the best way to blend in with the local lifestyle, and true to her words, we obeyed.

Though it was supposed to be a lil’ heavy on alcohol, 1 pint hadn’t got us anywhere …..but since we had a train to catch, we left and caught up with the rest of the gang at the train station and headed home to Bristol !

[The Bath gang - Standing (L to R) - Anil's bro, Anil, Santosh, Raghu, Ganesh. Kneeling (L to R) - Rakesh, me and Bharat! ]

Cardifffffffffffff !!!

3/2/2007

Barely 2 weeks after my first lone adventure to Newport, I returned to Wales yet again - this time to its capital city - Cardiff, and not alone - but with a gang of 8 other comrades !

A quick 40 minutes train journey from Bristol, and we arrived at Cardiff station…… Unlike the first time, now being more familiar with the Welsh language, I wasn’t in for a shock on seeing the signboards. Wasting no time, we followed the boards that read “Fford Allen” ( meaning “Way out”) , or ‘Fraud Allen’ as Bharat and I preferred to call it, and walked down to the taxi stands. Since most of us hadn’t had any breakfast, we decided to split up. Borat, Santosh, Ramappa, Reuben and Anand Ramakrishna stayed back and headed towards the adjacent mall to grab a bite, where as Rakesh, me, Akansha and Ram took a taxi towards the Cardiff Bay to enquire and book tickets for the Speed-Boat ride (that our mates had raved and ranted to us about) .

The first sight of the bay was itself absolutely captivating !!! The water was clear blue and placid, and a hazy mist was hanging over it in the horizon ! There was a promenade lined against the bay, and being quite early for a winter morning, we had almost the entire place to ourselves ! After strolling around a while and artistically experimenting with our cameras, we found the speed-boat office. Unfortunately, the official informed us that the rides were all booked for the day ………and that we need to book atleast 2 weeks in advance, if we fancy a place

Nevertheless, we quickly formulated a ‘plan B’. We decided to go for the less adventurous, but equally exciting ferry service across the bay to a place called Penarth - that constitutes of a series of panoramic hillocks and cliffs lined against the sea ! The boats were only at 12 noon and 1pm … having more than an hour in hand, we decided to have lunch first.

By then, the rest of the gang had joined us and we walked down to the nearby ‘Red Dragon’ mall - a real huge structure, but with a tiny doorway leading into it, that we literally had to circumvent the whole mall to actually find it !

First stop - the huge arcade and Entertainment centre, to play some bowling ! But thanks to our tremendous good fortune, we realized that all the lanes were booked too !!! Time for ‘Plan B’ again, or rather a Plan B within a plan B [ plan B.B ???] ! Off we went to the arcade section, hoping to play some video games………

And that was where we came across the roulette - a gambling device with some sort of an intrinsic magnetic power, that just pulls people in ! The funda was simple……you throw a 10p coin in, shoot it with a lever, if it falls on certain marked areas of a spinning disc, you win some coins back ! All of us took turns playing …….Some of us won, some of us lost miserably…..but one thing in common was that all of us got hooked ! Trust me - gambling may contain no caffeine, no nicotene, no morphine, but its one hell of an addictive activity ! Fortunately, this was not Las Vegas …..and the stakes were not too high - just 10 pence at a time……but that didn’t prevent people like Anand Ramakrishna in donating a huge part of his fortune to the roulettes. Thankfully, for me, it was a net profit. I had spent a little under 1 pound and won back about 1.5. Not bad at all!

An hour later, having tried our hands at many other games, and managing to drag Anand off the roulette, we were all prepared for our next challenge - the ‘Spicy Route’ restaurant. This place is known for its exquisite multi-cuisine menu - that among other things, includes almost every other Indian dish that you would fancy (….and had been missing since ages) - right from chats to sabji to masala dosas to biriyanis to butter chicken !

There was a board outside that said that you could treat yourself to an unlimited buffet for just about 6 pounds per head ! [ Honestly, what more could we have asked for ..... ]

WE WENT in, WE SAW, (…we folded our sleeves) and WE CONQUERED !!!

In 45 minutes flat, with hardly a word spoken in between, the job was neatly done ! [ I personally couldn't stop wondering why God had given me just 1 stomach, where as the cow that I regularly used to see sitting right in the middle of CMH Road back home, had got 4 !!!].

Truly, the restaurant managers had very badly under-estimated our collective might ! It was quite certain that the next time we go there, there’d be full-sized colour pictures of us on the board, with a small subscript reading ‘No entry to the these glutonous pigs !’

That done, we rushed to the docks and caught the ferry to Penarth. Costing just about 3 pounds for a return ticket, it was an awesome deal ! As the boat slowly glided across the sparkling blue waters of the bay, the operator gave us a running commentry describing the sights around us and the history associated with most of them. We really didn’t listen much to him, as we were indulging in our own sort of fun ! While the Brits were all primly seated in the neatly arranged rows of wooden benches, we travelled by the manner we were most accustomed to travelling - on the footboard ! Throughout the 40 minutes journey across the bay, we ran around the boat and took turns on the coveted spots on the footboards …….acrobatically leaning across and enjoying the open sky and the breeze, while our seats lay vacant !

Finally, before we could be thrown overboard, our boat reached Penarth,and we got down to have a look around the beautiful town and possibly visit the famed ‘Pebble beach’ there.

We quickly moved towards the giant ‘Locks’ that stood arrogantly at the mouth of the bay, standing as a wall against the fury of the sea beyond ! In Netherlands I guess they call these ‘dykes’…..but to me it looked no different from one of the dams back in South India - except for the fact that this one had the sea on one side and the bay on the other.

Next, we started trekking towards the Penarth beach, but this meant we had to scale the small hillocks and cut right through the extremely beautiful Penarth town, and descend again, onto the shores…..but just as we started out, we were frozen on our tracks….by a marvellous, curvaceous beauty who stood right there in our path in sheer aristocratic elegance ! We wondered what her name was ….it was Santosh who first gave us the answer - Aston Martin !!!

I just couldn’t believe my eyes ……Over the years I had touched a Rolls Royce, posed with a Maserati, sat inside a Porsche, leaned against a Lamborghini, visited a the showroom of Ferrari ……but never before in my life had I come so close to an Aston Martin - the original Bond car !

Boy, it was love at first sight ! We were all just so knocked-over by the car and went on to give it the sort of papparazzi treatment that not even Angelina Jolie could have possibly attracted ……as for the next 15-20 minutes, 4 cameras, 4 mobile phones clicked and shot the car from every possible angle, and with each of us taking turns posing with it !

[ Rakesh with the Aston ]
We had to ask our way down to the beach all along, and thanks to the courteous and hospitable nature of the locals , we got down there in about half an hour. Must admit - the Welsh are real nice people - extremely polite and helpful, always smiling if we approach them [....typically a lot different from the English ] ! The journey enroute was extremely beautiful …and presented some spectacular areal views of the bay and the city of Cardiff that lay across.

Finally we were at the Pebble beach - aptly named ‘cos the beach entirely constituted of pebbles, not sand !

There was a bridge that went that stretched into the sea …….we headed there first and shot some group photographs ! Some of us wanted to stay back on the bridge, while the rest of us took the stairs down to the beach ! Since it was low tide at that time, the waters were a neat 150-200 metres away, exposing the reef !

Waiting for nobody, I plunged ahead, and charged towards the waters in full fury …..the next thing I know, there was a loud SPLASH ! ……..and then another !!!
Before I could realize it, my Rs.3000 Reeboks were nearly sinking in thick, sticky, dirty mud !!! The impact had been heavy and the mud had splashed all over my jeans as well …..Only then did I realize that it was just the first 50 metres or so that constitutes the pebble beach, the rest of it better be called ‘Dirt beach’ or ‘Marsh beach’ ! It was sort of like quick sand …you put your foot at the wrong place and it sinks about half feet into the mud !

[The state of my Reeboks ]

Having seen me take the plunge, the others got wary…. Akansha and Ram were smart enough to remain where the pebbles were …Bharat, Santosh and Ramappa did brave ahead but by skilfully stepping on strategically located stones. As for me, I had nothing more to lose, so unhesitantly went ahead……

A while later, after getting calls from Rakesh and Anand who were still high up on the bridge, reminding us that we had a boat to catch, we headed back !

It was a mad rush ……to make it worse, we lost our way ! Reuben navigated us with the help of the map we had and somehow, just as we were speeding our way down the slopes, we could see the boat pulling into the docks…the timing couldn’t be better than this ! All panting and exhausted we barged into it.

Once on the mainland, the shopaholics took a shopping break in one of the boutiques, and quite a while later, we rushed to the Cardiff castle in two taxis but the place had already closed by the time we got there.

Having still some time in hand, we walked down the High Street into the main city centre shopping area of Cardiff. The city centre, needless to say was quite active and buzzing - with the usual weekend shoppers buzzing into the usual stores, and the usual street-side musicians grooving their tunes out loud and the usual bunch of teenagers dancing to them !

However, what was unusual was that there was a huge acrobatic ride that stood nearby..It was sort of like a giant wheel, but had only 2 carriages, that would hurl about in every possible direction whilst rotating - even upside-down !!!

Bharat, Santosh, Rakesh, Ramappa and Akansha were brave enough to try……where as the rest of us felt quite comfortable having our feet on the ground !

Having done that, we walked down to the train station and got back to Bristol.

[The Cardiff gang !!!]

Croeso i Casnewydd !!!

My cousin sister in London, (whom I call Ceemechy) had asked me to go to Newport in Wales, and pick up a small bicycle for her kid from a family friend there. Newport was just about 40 minutes from Bristol, and I agreed to go on Saturday. Not only would I be able to visit a new place, but it would also give me the chance to get on a British train for the first time, since arriving here about 3 months back !

So early on Saturday morning, I set off to the Bristol Parkway station, not too far from where I lived. However, the lines at the station had been closed for a while (due to some engineering works) and there were Coach services arranged to transfer passengers to the nearby Patchway station. I hopped on to one of them and in about 5 minutes, reached Patchway.

Patchway wasn’t too much of a station…..just a couple of platforms on either sides of a pair of railway tracks ! It was almost deserted except for a handful of passengers and about 2 railway officials on duty. Behind the platforms, one could see the sprawling buildings of the Rolls Royce engine factory!

Soon a train approached ….but was nothing like what I had expected to find in England - it was small and rickety ……just 2 compartments long, and moved almost at a tram’s pace ! A ticket official got out…but looking at my ticket, he told me that I couldn’t travel until 9 AM, ‘cos that was the time mentioned on my ticket. I got back and waited. About 10 minutes later, a Virgin train [ to the corrupted/ignorant mind, what it means is a train run by Ricard Branson's 'Virgin' group] zoomed into the station…..Now this was more like it - sleek, aero-dynamic and futuristic ! It was still a few more minutes to 9 AM, but neverthless I got in.

The interiors were as classy as what it had looked like on the outside, but the compartment was almost empty …..The 40-minute ride was entirely eventless, but presented excellent panoramic views of the English countryside……lush, green meadows and fields stretched on into the horizons ….and herds of cattle (I spotted a couple of wild horses too) just stood there grazing on them, without even bothering to move a muscle ! [Just like most Brits, their cattle too seemed to have no sense of figure-consiousness at all! ]

When the voice on the P.A system announced that we were approaching Newport station, I couldn’t resist smirking at myself, at the fact that I had successfully completed this journey in such a perfect and flawless manner……..quite an achievement, considering that in the recent past, whenever I had travelled to a new location for the first time, some adventure or some screw-up had always happened ! Be it the first time I travelled to Cairo, or the first time I flew in to UK, or the first time I went to visit London …….none of those journeys had been devoid of action !!! Probably the law of averages was finally catching up ! Quite content and beeming with pride at my accomplishment today, I got off the train…….. into what seemed to be a relatively larger station…………only to be welcomed by a large board that read “Casnewydd” !

What the ….????? I just couldn’t believe it !!! I rubbed my eyes, and checked the board again. But it still read C-a-s-n-e-w-y-d-d !!! I stood there for a few moments blankly staring at it, trying to come to terms with the reality ….. A number of baffling questions ran through my head ….Could I have heard wrong ? Not really ….. I was pretty certain it had been announced as Newport inside the train ! Was I drunk ? Hardly possible [it was just 9'o clock in the morning] !

………I turned back to see that the train had already started moving ! There was nothing much I could do now, except come to terms with the fact that the universe had yet again conspired against me !

Confused and lost, I walked up to the official at the gates and explained to him my situation …….

But to my surprise, he told me that this was indeed Newport !

[ What ??? .....was this some kind of a joke ? To my knowledge the 1st of April was still about 3.5 months away !] I pointed towards the board that read ‘Casnewydd’ in big, bold letters and seeked an explanation!….he smiled and told me that Casnewydd was just the Welsh name for Newport !

It took me a moment to sink in ……I wasn’t in England anymore….this is Wales ! Newport is a Welsh city and here, they speak Welsh . But I had never had the faintest idea that Welsh was so damn different from English !

[Next time, when I get back to India, I swear I'd refer to my pair of Newport jeans only as Casnewydd jeans !!! ]

I thanked the guy and moved ahead. I checked out the other boards displayed at the Train station ……They were quite amusing …..Fortunately, Wales was bilingual, and hence the boards were all written in Welsh as well as English ! And everybody knew English, so there were no issues in communicating at all.

I later came to learn that Wales itself was referred to locally as ‘Cymru’, and its language ‘Cymraeg‘ (Welsh). Welsh is an ancient Celtic language, related most closely to Breton and Cornish. It had descended from the language that was spoken across most of Britain during the ancient Roman times. Like most languages, it has many borrowed words, but grammatically it is more different from English than, say, French or Italian are.

In fact, recent studies show that the Welsh were the true ‘Britons’ and even today are genetically quite different from the English ! Following the Roman withdrawal in the fifth century, Celtic Britain underwent a form of ethnic cleansing by the Anglo-Saxon invaders. For some reason, the areas around the fringes of Britain like Wales or Cornwall were spared, and while the new language of English evovled among the Anglo-saxons, surprisingly, the Welsh were able to stick on to and preserve theirs !

This was amazing ! Being on the same island of Great Britain and literally right next-door to England, Wales has a language that is about as similar to English as Hindi is to C++ !!! Yeah…..the point is, there is almost no connection at all ! Picture this, a bilingual board outside the Train station read - “croeso i orsaf casnewydd” for “Welcome to Newport station”…….and “Gwybodaeth i Gwsmeriaid ag Anabieddau” for “Information for Customers with Disabilities” !

I waited outside the station for a while …soon the person arrived in a Vauxhall car with the bicycle in its boot. It was small…but not so much that I could carry it…….I had to roll it around anyway!

I decided not to go back home immediately, as this was my first time here in Newport or in Wales, for that matter, and I wanted to look around a bit … I didn’t let the bicylce deter me …I decided to pushed it along and so crossed the nearby subway onto the city centre area, where a few shops were already open and people were just starting to swarm in …..The place wasn’t any different from other city centres in England …it had all the usual set of stores, the usual set of eat-outs - Mac, KFC, Subway etc…. even the customary Indian restaurants, were all there. The only thing different however, was the fact that the boards here were always written in both Welsh and English.

I pushed the cylce across the busy road and walked down to the nearby river front…….There were a few bridges around- that presented a wonderful panoramic backdrop against the river. It was sunny thankfully, but being next to the river, the breeze was cold and stinging !

A while later I returned back to the central shopping area, and explored around the boulevards ! By now, the crowds were thickening and the whole place was starting to get thronged by weekend shoppers……As I cut through the constant flow of pedestrians, pushing the junior bicycle alongside me, I couldn’t help notice the odd stares and smirks from the people around………….I even overheard a small girl cry out to her dad that she wanted to have a ride on it ! Not letting myself get discouraged, I pushed on and tried to explore as much of the city centre as possible ! It was a small place however, and didn’t offer too much variety. A while later, I returned to the station and bought myself a ticket to Bristol.

I caught the 11:39 ‘Firt Great Western’ train and got down at the Patchway station. Here in Britain, the trains are so strictly punctual that they are referred to by their departure times - upto the precise minute ! I remember my room-mate Sameer telling me earlier that when he was once coming to Bristol from Leeds, he had asked for a ticket on the 4 o’clock train. But to his dismay, the official at the counter told him that there was no 4 o’clock train…….[Apparently there only was a 3:58 train !!!]

Goodbye Mr.Passhan !

[There are some people - who on departing, leave their near-and-dear ones filling buckets and buckets of tears ! And then, there are others - the mere news of whose departures spark off such wild, fervent, celebrations that Woodstock, in comparison may be mistaken to be a low-key funeral !!! ]

When Shankar aka Passhan decided to go back to his roots in Bangalore, it had come as quite an unexpected shock ! For this was the guy, who in the past 1.5 years here in Bristol, UK; had been a pivotal part of our onsite team. Sort of like a 1-man army, he had steered many of our most complex and demanding projects through, and had even forged a Fevicol- bond with the clients ! It was hard to imagine how we could go on without him here. A huge void would be inevitably created ………To think of it, our onsite team minus Passhan would be more like a ‘Masala dosa’ without the masala !!!

Anywayz, somethings in life (or at work) just have to happen and Passhan had his own personal reasons for going back! However, why he intended to keep this such a closely-guarded secret initially, was something that I couldn’t quite comprehend. Apparently, I had got the information that he was leaving, officially from the Managers back in India, and just when I had spread the news to about 96.7 % of the world and was contemplating on how to effectively reach the remaining 3.3 %, did Passhan actually send me a message on Google Chat informing me that he wanted to keep it a secret !!! [ Yeah, such are the pathetic social effects of technology on our breed .........that 2 idiots, sitting back-to-back in the same cubicle in a software firm, have to resort to (of all things...) online chat to communicate with each other !]

Neverthless, to extend Shankar a good farewell and to show him how we really felt, our team decided to throw a send-off party at a nearby pub on the last day of his stay in UK ! Our Brit clients were invited too, and thus, on the 12th of Jan, Hari, Roopa, Shankar, Srivatsa, Ravi, Bharat and me left office a little early and met up with them at the ‘Black Sheep’ pub here at Bradley Stoke ! No one dared miss the chance of a lifetime …..after all, its not everyday that you get to pour down a few pints of ale on-the-house and send the Passhan packing home !!!

The beer was super-AWESOME …..It had been ages since I had tasted some great draught beer, and Carlsberg did truly live up to its name ! With the pressures of work (……. and all inhibitions) quickly fading away, we found ourselves indulged in the usual ragging and pulling-legs that go with any party, but for once, Mr.Passhan had no choice but to be the bakra !

One thing I must shamelessly confess at this juncture, however embarrassing as it might sound, is that in my 3 months here in England, that was the first time I had visited a local pub !!! Yeah, I had cut down heavily on booze after arriving here …….and whatever few pints of beer I’ve had, had always been indoors with friends! For some reason, I had never really felt the craving…….or rather, I had never really been myself !

Except for our table, the ambience at the pub was surprisingly mellow and peaceful…..quite contrary to the pubs back home in Bangalore - where you couldn’t expect anything but dark, crowded, smoke-filled rooms blaring out deafening music ! Here in England, pubs are quite literally (not just geographically) miles apart ! In fact, this is where pubs originated and these are the true pubs - with its unique homely set-up and an ambience where in, you can actually have a conversation with your mates ! After all, pubs [short for 'Public houses'], historically had started out as modest watering holes set-up in country inns, serving travellers ale - straight out of the barrels ! Interestingly, most of the pubs here in England are centuries old, and still maintain the same kinda interiors and environment that possibly, Tony Blair’s great-great-great-great grandfather-in-law would have enjoyed at his bachelor’s party (assuming he had got married ) !!!
‘BlackSheep’ though, was no ancient pub…but there are a lot many right here in Bristol itself, that are centuries old …..in fact, the board outside the pub right next to the Bus Station in the city centre, claims that it was established sometime during the 17th century !!!

The evening was great fun and I had never seen everybody so cheerful and happy ever before ! Perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that Passhan was finally going back, never to return……….. and the bright future that it would leave us with ! In fact, when we asked our clients on what good words (if any) they had to say about Shankar, one of them immediately responded, “He’s going back !”

[ Reminds me of the scene from "Ace Venture: When nature calls", where the otherwise calm and composed Budhist monks, burst into unprecedented celebrations when Ace finally decides to leave their monastry! ]

[Shankar flanked by our clients at the BlackSheep pub ! Really had to say who looks happiest at the prospect ! ]

There was a major party scheduled at #3, Woodlands Court - Shankar’s home, that night…..but I couldn’t make it as I was off to London to meet Ganesh and a couple of his friends who had come down from Trivandrum.

Jokes apart, Shankar’s departure is sure to be a major blow…..Not only would this mean that his pending tasks and responsibilities would get dumped on Roopa and myself, but would also imply that we’ll lose a very important onsite resource- a technically sound one at that, and who cooks some great sambhar as well!

Last year, at around the very same time back in Bangalore, Shankar had handed over to me a project that he was involved in and fled to UK, leaving me out in the cold - unarmed and unprepared …….to what turned out to be some of the roughest and worst times of my fledgeling software career ! Even to this day, the thought of that project gives me nightmares …… waking me up in the middle of the nights, sweating and screaming out loud !

And now, sort of in the very same fashion, Shankar is fleeing the UK and going back to India, leaving me with the custody of one of his seemingly complex projects

Well ……this is one history I really wudn’t fancy being repeated ! The only difference this time around is that, our roles are reversed ……he is the offshore guy and I am the one on the greener side ! Hardly matters at all, I’ve recently come to learn …..’cos when u’re screwed - u’re screwed ! Doesn’t matter whether you are in Bangalore or Bristol !

Its gonna be tough or near impossible to fit into his shoes [....not 'cos they're too small!', as he - well known for his quick wit, had once remarked; but for the simple fact that some things in life just cannot be replaced ! ]

Wonder what he has to say to this, now !

Why Wii ???

Its been exactly 2 months since I left Bangalore to UK, and for the first time in these 2 months (spent almost entirely on eating, sleeping, working on the computer, more sleeping ……and more computers) I managed to get some real physical exercise …….as I huffed and puffed my way through a few games of tennis - albeit, without a racquet !!!

Instead what I held in my hand was a fruit of man’s remarkable technological advancements - an uber-cool wireless ‘JOYSTICK’ ! ………and in front of me - a 25″ Television !

Mates …. Welcome to the world of modern Gaming !

My colleague Ravi had just procured a brand new Nintendo Wii, on the very day that it launched …..Unlike his favourite animated character Eric Cartman, from the popular comedy show ‘Southpark’ who had frozen himself for 3 weeks just because he couldn’t wait for the launch of the Wii, Ravi had simply done a pre-booking and carried on with his life until it actually arrived !

To think of it, it had been about 10 years since I last played a Nintendo …..but back then it had been just been about Super Mario Bros., or Tetris ………… or at best, shooting virtual ducks on the screen with the toy gun provided ! Boy, I had come a long way since those early days at Kuwait and Thrissur, but apparently, technology had been through a much longer journey !!!

Neverthless, the Wii was just too state-of-the-art ! And its wireless joystick - absolutely mind-boggling ! Picture this …… whichever way you swung your hand, it could almost exactly replicate that on the TV ! So in essence, while playing tennis, you could chop the ball, give it a little top-spin, place it ……everything almost exactly the way you would play it in reality !

Ravi had a collection of few other interesting games as well - like boxing, baseball, golf, bowling etc…….but I liked tennis the best ! What more, the Wii could be connected to the internet and also offered a wide range of extra features - like download/view movies, check out the local weather information, read the latest News etc……

Ravi had paid a humongous amount for this, and wudn’t exactly declare how much ! Technology, after all, exists to make our lives easier …….and its amazing what all it can offer you these days, and to think of the extent of research and development gone into producing it !…..I mean, you pay a fortune, get yourself one of those hi-fi gaming consoles….and then play all the sports you want - that otherwise might have required you to actually go out and physically play ………with a real racquet ……..and a real ball !!! Boy, can’t even imagine how uncool and old-fashioned our lives would have been had it not been for technology !!!

As I stood there that evening, swinging and serving and smashing the virtual ball on TV, it took me a while to realise that I was standing in front of a clear, wide, window, and that neither the tiny wireless joystick in my hand, nor the TV in front of me, would be visible to the people on the street below! In fact, I didn’t have the faintest clue about the number of people who’d have passed by that night and seen me meaninglessly swinging my arms in the air; and prayed to God to show mercy on my insane soul !

Virtual or real, it was nice to play tennis after such a long hiatus………The last time I had played was over a year back in good ol’ Bangalore, when I used to wake up at unearthly hours in the morning [ ard 6 AM !] and jog all the way to Kanteerva Stadium from Richmond Town, for an hour and half of gruelling tennis lessons ! Then I had moved out to an apartment in IndiraNagar with my old pal Prashant, and subsequently, the only exercise we guys ever used to get was in carrying those Kingfisher bottles to our terrace, where we gulped them looking at the stars above ……and the ultra-haphazard Bangalore skyline below ….with the cool breeze blowing at us ……….

Boy, that was heaven !

The Indian connection !

One evening, I left office about an hour early and after dropping my stuff in the hotel, rushed down to the Corniche to take a sunset ride along the Nile in a felucca (tradition Egyptian wooden boat) …..This was highly recommended by most of the travel guides, and hence I couldn’t afford to miss it!

There were a large number of colourful, illuminated feluccas of various sizes docked in front of the Ramses Hilton hotel by the Corniche…..and an equal number of touts canvassing passers-by as well ! I opted for one of the larger boats - with an open deck on the top. For 5 Egyptian pounds ( and an extra 1 pound as tips), it seemed to be a great deal! I got on to the top deck and reserved myself a place……but it seemed like it would take a while for the boat to actually start, as the operators kept waiting for more passengers.

In the meanwhile, I observed that there were no other tourists at all in the boat….the felucca was filled with Egyptian families and young couples - trying to have a good time ! With the stunning view of the setting sun across the horizon, and being amidst the serene waters of the Nile, you just couldn’t ask for a more romantic setting !

Just when I was trying to settle in and get used to all the Arabic chit-chat happenning around me, something distinct caught my ears….. sort of sounded like French …..I turned around and saw that it was coming from an Arab man and a black guy speaking to each other…….and it definitely was French ! Having no other company and no other choice, I decided to put my meagre French skills (that I had acquired a couple of months earlier at the Alliance Francaise in Bangalore) to some practical test ! …… I went up to the them and mustering all my confidence, said “Bon soir, je m’appelle Akhil …Comment ca va ? “

The guys seemed quite pleased, and chose to give their reply in French too …………………..NON-STOP …………………..for the next 5 MINUTES !!!

I just stood there frantically blinking my eyes, not being able to make head or tail out of what they were saying, cursing myself for stamping myself on the foot !

Finally, when they were finished, I asked them, “By the way … do you speak any English ?”

[me and Mourad on top of the felucca]

Thankfully they did ! Phew, I sighed in relief ! However, the guys appreciated my efforts to speak French …stressing on the fact that one couldn’t possibly learn the language, unless he made a genuine attempt to speak it !

The Arab guy was actually an Algerian and the black from Senegal ….both erstwhile French colonies.

They were quite impressed by the fact that I was from India ! Day after day, I just kept realizing how much India was liked and respected in this part of the world ! It was amazing …and something you couldn’t even dare imagining to happen in the far West !

They told me they knew about Gandhi …and even Amitabh Bachchan !

Mourad, the Algerian asked me if I had heard about Algeria.

“Of course”, I replied, simultaneously trying to think of a famous Algerian … but Zidane was the only one I could think of, so mentioned his name …..I wasn’t really sure on how the Algerians felt about Zidane (who had migrated to France in his early days). I was reluctant at first, hoping that the guy wouldn’t head-butt me [....I didn't quite fancy the idea of being hurled into the Nile, u see ! ] Fortunately he didn’t …….he turned out to be a football fan himself !

Coincidentally, these guys were in the IT business too, and were employed by Huawei technologies. The North-African headquaters of Huawei happened to be in Cairo, and they were here to attend some meetings there.
We soon began chatting about our respective countries, our jobs and the IT industry in general. These guys had heard about India’s growing IT prowess and held us in great awe ! They clearly didn’t like their Chinese bosses and complained that they hardly even knew proper English !

About half an hour later, the boat finally started and slowly began gliding towards the North. The other two guys went downstairs to have take their seats, but I decided to stay back on the deck and enjoy the view !

By now, the sun had fully set and this was even more spectacular …….. with the tall, modern skyscrapers on the eastern banks being entirely lit-up, and their reflections streaking upon the dark waters of the river!

To add on to the effect, the speakers were now blaring out hit-Arabic pop numbers ! The songs seemed real catchy and melodious……and I instantly started to like them! The ambience on the boat was fantastic too ……there were girls dancing, kids playing around and the crowds cheering !

I stood there on the deck capturing the moments on my camcorder.

A while later, all of a sudden, somebody started shouting out to me in Arabic .I looked around and it was one of the boatmen. He was yelling at me something I just couldn’t comprehend ! I tried to ignore him, concentrating on my camcorder, but he just wudn’t stop …and now was frantically gesturing with his hands. Something told me he was asking me to get down …..

I look