Planning an Arctic Cruise

Everyone has a dream destination, or an idea of it, however vague it be, the kind of place that wants us to leave everything behind, go out into the world, look deep into our hearts and find out what it truly wants and then do it. For me that place has always been the two extremities of the earth, the two poles. Whether it's the animated penguins or gigantic glaciers in Antarctica or the quintessential image of a polar bear digging out a seal from the burrows in the Arctic sea ice, something has always drawn me towards the north and south pole alike. And somehow, last year the pull got so strong that I could no longer resist and caved in. Thus began the planning for the greatest adventure of my life so far!

The travel window for the Arctic is fairly limited, due to the extreme cold and lack of sunlight for half the year, roughly June to August. After much deliberation about expenses and leave from work, I finally managed to book an arctic cruise in Svalbard for 10 days in July 2016. I was super excited about the prospect of encountering Polar bears in their natural habitat. Till now I had only seen one in the Detroit zoo.

A polar bear jumping across the sea ice

And now that I am back from the trip, I am proud to tell you that the polar bear count stands revised to 25! That's about 15 more than my wildest imagination, yes I was that lucky! Watching a polar bear on the sea ice is such a fulfilling experience that everything else, the midnight sun, the walrus, various kinds of seal, reindeer, arctic fox, bird colonies on vertical cliffs and mountain slopes with hundreds of thousands of birds and almost miniaturized flora unique to the Arctic region felt like an added bonus. A big surprise element was the spectacular landscape. I was expecting sea and ice for most part but the terrain varied from barren polar deserts to islands lush green with vegetation primarily due to the fertilization by tons of droppings from the bird colonies! I did not even foresee the amazing vistas created by the hundreds of fjords in the Svalbard archipelago, like this one below:

Brash ice in front of a glacier at Magdalenefjorden

For more photographs from the trip, feel free to check out my Facebook page:

https://Facebook.com/himanshusarafphotography

Or my Instagram feed:

https://Instagram.com/himanshusarafphotography

Now a lot of you have asked me about details of my itinerary or how to go about planning a trip to the Arctic. I will share some of the things I learned while planning this trip and if you want further details you can leave comments and I will try and address them as quickly as I can.

First of all, the Arctic Circle isn't a very well defined place, loosely speaking anything north of 66° latitude is part of the Arctic region (not exactly but let's ignore that) and that would include parts of Russia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Canada and Alaska. So you can visit the Arctic from any of these places. One of the most popular destinations in the Arctic is an archipelago called Svalbard, which is a part of Norway but located quite north of the mainland Norway. This is what I had visited and for the rest of the blog, I will talk only about Svalbard.

Although part of Norway, Svalbard is party to an international treaty which allows free access to almost everyone. Now before you pack your bags thinking you don't need a visa - there is a catch! The only flights to Svalbard are from Norway, so you will require a valid visa to Norway, which means a Schengen. So flying to Svalbard generally looks like this - you fly from your city to Oslo in Norway and then either fly SAS or Norwegian Airlines from Oslo to Longyearbyen, the capital and only city of Svalbard. Being almost a monopoly, these airlines would charge you quite a bit for the relatively short flight but the views from the window are stunning.

Longyearbyen is a small town with a population of about 2000 or so and used to be a mining town at some point. Now it's the point of origin/end of all Arctic voyages in Svalbard. The most common and practical way of touring Svalbard is on a cruise ship. Many people come here just to board their ship and don't spend much time here, however there are a lot of day tours that are offered and if you want to take it slow you can easily tag a few days here on either side of your cruise. Just like the flights, expect to pay dearly for the hotels.

So far so good. Now comes the toughest part - how do you choose a cruise ship? I took months to answer this question for myself and I realize that it is very subjective. Instead of telling you which ships/cruise companies I think are good I will list down the questions you should ask yourself and evaluate potential ships against these to figure out what's right for you. Remember, this is the single most important decision you will make regarding the trip that can make or break your overall experience so give it enough time and thought. Here we go:

1. Creature comforts: Ships sailing to the Arctic range from basic ones that were once used as research vessels and have now been refitted to take passengers to ultra luxurious ones (think Titanic! well almost). The price differential between ships and among different accommodation classes on the same ship is huge so your budget might dictate thus choice as well.

2. Size of the ship: these ships can range from a privately chartered 20 passenger boat to a large ship with over 500 passengers. Size of the ship matters in more ways than you can think. A larger ship is more stable in rough waters, has more amenities and avenues of entertainment, more passengers to mingle with (easy to avoid the obnoxious ones too!) and might be more economical. On the other hand a smaller ship is more intimate, you get to know the other passengers and crew closely, can go to places a big ship can not, can unload and load passengers faster (this is crucial when you go out of the ship for a zodiac cruise or a shore landing - don't worry, I will explain both in a while).

3. Ice rating of the ship - Depending on how strong the hull of the ship is for navigating around ice, it has a different ice rating ranging from 1D to 1A (nomenclature can vary depending on the system used). 1D is the weakest and 1A the strongest. Now 1D doesn't mean that the ship is unsafe. It only means that the ship won't try and navigate through ice and choose it's path based on the ice condition. Whereas a class 1A ship will go about more freely and won't have to worry about navigating through thin ice (and thin ice only). Icebreakers are a different category altogether (think north pole) and I won't touch upon them here. Essentially, if you want to see the polar bears or seals up close in their natural habitat on the sea ice you want a ship that has an ice strengthened hull, basically a rating of 1A or 1B.

4. Expedition leader and staff: This is perhaps the most difficult factor to evaluate but in my opinion the most important factor in choosing a ship/company. An expedition leader decides the course of the ship every day/hour and his experience in making the right calls on the weather and the sea conditions and animal behavior can completely make or break your experience. However, these trips are booked an year or so in advance generally and it's tough to get the information about the expedition leader before booking (or even after that for that matter). Scouring through online reviews, using your personal contacts and diligent follow-ups with the companies can get you the right answers.

5. Timing: not every ship is sailing in the Arctic at the same time and the best time to watch different animals is different. So depending on your interest you have to figure out the best month to sail and you will have to check which ship is sailing during those days.

6. Budget: it's influenced by many of the factors above but after you have narrowed down your choices based on the above questions you may find that some or all of them do not fit in your budget in which case you will need to re-prioritize or make compromises e.g. choose a sharing room over a single room. Another way to cut the budget is to choose a shorter cruise. The cruise duration ranges from a week to three weeks. I find 10 days to be just about right.

With your flights and the ship sorted out, you are almost done with the planning. You need to worry about two more things:

1. Appropriate clothing for the Arctic climate and the nature of activities on the ship.

2. Photography equipment (I think even if you are not a photographer, it's unlikely you will go all the way to the Arctic and not want to take pictures! I will tackle both of these in separate blog posts in the future.

In case you are wondering if I forgot... I didn't! Coming to the topic of zodiac cruises and shore landings - these are two of the main activities (kayaking is a third option, but I will take that up in comments section if someone is interested) that you will perform outside the ship almost on a daily basis, once to thrice a day.

Zodiacs are small inflatable boats (like white water rafts but with engines) that can carry about 8-10 passengers and you cruise around in the waters on that when it's not possible to land onshore. It's a great way to get up close to icebergs, mountain cliffs, shores and sometimes glaciers.

Zodiacs and Kayaks tied up on the Aft of the Ship

 Shore landings basically mean you are taken from the ship to a nearby island on a zodiac and then you get off on the island and walk around either in an organized hike or you move freely within a set perimeter. Each of these activities can last anywhere between 2-4 hours.

With that out of the way, let me go back to the question of size of ship. Passengers board the zodiacs in serial and it can take a while to board everyone. So if you are on a large ship, you may have wait 30-45 minutes for your turn to board whereas a small ship can have everyone out and about in under 15 minutes. When you have just spotted an interesting animal on the shore, who is walking away, and want to get close to take a glimpse of it, that extra 20 minutes might be the difference in you seeing or not seeing the animal. A small ship by the same token, is more capable of making use of fleeting opportunities because of its faster turnaround times in getting people out on the boats.

Well, it's been a very long post but I hope it has been worth it. I am sure you will have some doubts or unaddressed questions, so feel free to comment and I will try and respond at the earliest. The Arctic is a wonderful place but is being significantly affected by the climate change, more than any other part of the world. The sea ice that is the home of the polar bear is fast melting and according to some estimates might be completely gone by 2030. If you want to give yourself a chance to experience this magical part of our world, the time to go is now.

Jambo Kenya!

"Guys, I am going to speed up a little. My friend has just spotted a Cheetah and we are going to try and catch it!" - those were the kind of words I had imagined I would hear during my visit to Kenya but I couldn't imagine what sort of a reaction from me would such words evoke.  I was about to find out.

It had barely been 3 days into the trip and we were slowly warming up to Kenya and its wildlife, having spent a day in Nairobi and Lake Nakuru each. On the 3rd day, we were in Amboseli and were on our way back to the campsite from a visit to a Maasai village. It was getting dark as the sun had already set and our driver and guide Jackson was driving slowly looking out for birds and other animals. He would stop the Land Rover whenever he would spot something interesting and would share his knowledge about it and give us a chance to take pictures. We managed to see a few small birds and animals so far and were enjoying the experience as well as the landscape.

Jackson, who was connected to a few other drivers via radio, suddenly took a sharp turn, sped up and announced that his friend has spotted a Cheetah so he is going to drive a little fast and see if we can catch it. That had got to be the most exciting thing I had heard in a very long time! I and the 5 other tourists in the safari held tightly to our seats as we saw Jackson transform from a laid back driver to Jean Reno running away from Godzilla!

We stopped for a few minutes to allow Richard, our spotter, to take out a red flash light to enable us to see around at night. We could sense an urgency and excitement in both Richard and Jackson, something that was not there so far. All of us had forgotten about the colorful birds, the cute Gazelles, the shy Giraffes, the imperial Rhino and anything else we had seen till then. The pecking order in the African wild is very simple, the big cats - the lion, the cheetah and the leopard overshadow everything else when it comes to demanding your time and attention.

With the target clear in our minds, we kept driving in the dark, not sure what to expect. Other than the occasional communication Jackson had over the radio, no one spoke anything. I didn't know how likely we were to actually spot the cheetah, it was a huge conservancy, very dark, we were far away from where the cheetah was spotted, and the cheetah is quite elusive. I didn't have very high hopes, in fact, I was so excited and content just with the thrill of the chase that spotting the cheetah would definitely have felt like a bonus.

We crossed another safari vehicle on our way and Jackson exchanged a quick word with the driver in the local Maasai language before moving on. With every passing moment I attached a lesser likelihood of us finding the cheetah. It was so dark and we drove that fast that I wouldn't be surprised if he had crossed a few of them on our way without noticing them (or so I thought). Suddenly we heard a sound of excitement from our spotter pointing in a direction - Cheetah! And that's when I realized what does being on the edge of your seat really mean. He had every one's attention, we all looked in that direction and there I could see a Cheetah resting calmly… and another one nearby… and a third one! At that moment I knew this was definitely one of those rare trips that live up to all the hype - Empire State building didn't, Buckingham Palace didn't, Grand Canyon didn't, Lochness Monster didn't… IT did!

Jackson told us they are three brothers. By this time we all had our cameras out and ready and were taking pictures like crazy though it was pretty dark and getting good shots was very tough. Someone in our group enthusiastically used the on camera flash which annoyed the cheetahs. They all got up and started walking away from us. Jackson was quick to follow them in the vehicle and Richard did a good job at keeping the red flash light on them (animals are apparently not bothered by the red light). The cheetahs found another resting place nearby and we stopped the car a good 15-20 meters away at a good view point.

Jackson told us they looked well fed and have probably eaten a fresh kill they made (next morning we found the remains, skeleton and feathers, of the Ostrich they had killed). We sat there watching every movement of theirs through our binoculars and I tried to get a few pictures as well. After a while Jackson suggested we should let them rest and we will try and find them the next morning. As luck would have it, this would be the first and last time we spotted a cheetah on the entire safari.

As much as I am disappointed not being able to see a Cheetah chase a Gazelle in the open plains (our fellow tourists did later on), I am quite fortunate to having seen them in the wild and being able to observe them from so close. With the cheetah now extinct in India it was rare opportunity and I am glad Africa cares about its wildlife and still offers the less fortunate ones of us a chance to be there and get a flavor of the real wild.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - confessions of a lone traveler

Scene 1 - The Good

Location: Istanbul
Time: About 10:30 pm

Taksim Square

I am walking back towards my hotel after taking a cruise in the Bosphorus river and stopped to enquire at an eatery in Sultanahmet about their vegetarian options. I didn't find anything interesting so continued to walk when I heard someone ask me something in Turkish. I turned back and saw a young guy, in his 30's, Turkish looking who was asking for directions. The look on my face made it clear that I was the wrong person to ask the question so he politely apologized. Here is how the conversation went-

Stranger: I am sorry, I thought you were Turkish.
I: Not a problem.
Stranger: So are you a tourist?
I: Yes.
Stranger: Just like me (with a smile, and by this time he had started walking along with me, apparently not needing directions any more).

So where are you from?
I: India. How about you?
Stranger: I am from Cyprus (I didn't know what men from Cyprus looked like, I assumed they look similar). So, first time in Turkey?
I: Yes.
Stranger: It's my second time. So what brings you here?
I: Tourism, holiday.
Stranger: You traveling alone?
I: Yes, how about you?
Stranger: I came today and am waiting for a friend, he will come tomorrow.
I: OK (Typically when I give such one word or one phrase answers, people loose interest in the conversation pretty quickly but this guy kept on going undeterred).
Stranger: How long have you been here?
I: Two days.
Stranger: So what did you do today?
I: The usual tourist spots - Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, Bosphorus Cruise etc. How about you?
Stranger: I went for a Hamam.
I: Nice. where?
Stranger: Cemberlitas. (that's one of the most popular places for a traditional Hamam, and very expensive too, I think he chose to mention it on purpose to impress).
I: That must be very expensive.
Stranger: No, not much, it was about 65 Liras (close to 2000 Rupees, I thought it should have been more expensive but later on realized he was about right on the price).

So, this went on for a while, he kept talking about India, Mumbai, the weather and other usual conversation starters but I tried to keep it to a minimum as I had some idea where this was heading and I was playing it safe. And as I expected, the conversation soon took that turn -
Stranger: So, which hotel are you staying in?
I: (I deliberately ignored the question) I am finding it so hard to find good vegetarian food here.
Stranger: (He mentioned something about a place in a different part of the city which he thought was nice and came back to his original question). If you don't mind me asking, which hotel are you staying in?
I: (I ignored him again, now pretty sure that he is up to something). I am just looking for a good vegetarian restaurant and can't find it!
Stranger: You know, I am heading to Taksim Square, there are some nice clubs there, if you want to come have a drink you are welcome.
I: No thanks, I am pretty tired, I think I will eat something and rest.
Stranger: Well, there are some nice clubs there. We will take the train have a couple of drinks and then we can be back in an hour or two.

For the next few minutes he kept on talking about the benefits of going there - drinks, girls, friends, belly dance, fun and so on and I kept sounding disinterested.
I: Thanks, but I am too tired to go. How are you going there by the way?
Stranger: I will take the tram.

And this was the last and final clue that this was all a setup - we were walking in the opposite direction of Taksim where he wanted to go, and on the way we had skipped two tram stations, his mode of transport. Meanwhile we had reached the place where I had been eating for the last two days and I didn't waste any more time in ending the conversation.
I: Well, it was nice meeting you. I am going to eat here, you have fun at Taksim! (shook his hand and walked away)

So, in case you are wondering what his intended setup was then this is how the whole scene plays. Had I gone with him, he would have taken me to a nice bar/club and soon we would have been joined by a few more people, at least a couple of pretty girls (remember he was a tourist, but somehow he will have friends at the bar!). Everyone will have drinks, talk, laugh and later when the bill comes it would have been handed on to me and would have run into a few hundred Euros (could be ten times more than the actual cost of drinks and they might even have a fake menu to support those prices!). The bar owner is usually a part of the scam and I would end up paying the entire amount. If I didn't have enough cash they would have kindly escorted me to the nearest ATM.

It's a popular scam in Istanbul and is usually called the single male traveler scam. Fortunately I had read about it before I left for Turkey so was quick to recognize it. I don't think I would have gone with him anyways. I mean seriously, a guy from Cyprus wanting to have drinks with me in Istanbul by first taking a tram to some other part of the city? I know I am a good company but let's be honest, I am not that good either :)

Scene 2 - The Bad

Location: A bus from Antalya to Goreme
Time: 11 am

The Kent bus that threw us out

I had to go from Olympos to Goreme, I booked the ticket from my tree house hotel guy in Olympos and the route was like this - I take a shuttle (called Dolmus) from the tree house to the main road, then a mini bus from there to Antalya bus station and then an overnight bus from Antalya to Goreme. The bus was at 10 pm and I barely managed to reach Antalya bus station by 9:50 pm. Actually there were 4 people going to Goreme from that hotel that night so till the time we reached Antalya we were together. The bus station was pretty big and we had to hurry to find our bus. We showed our tickets to a few people and they directed us to our bus. We reached there just in time, loaded the luggage and took our seats. By this time, two of us had gone somewhere else and it was just me and a Canadian girl. The bus left promptly at 10 but made a lot of long stops over the next 20-30 mins to pick some passengers on the way.

Anyways, after we had been on the road for over an hour, the conductor came to check the tickets, looked at my ticket and appeared shocked. Went up to the driver and started talking loudly in Turkish. Came back to me and started talking in Turkish. I didn't understand everything but the essence was this - "You fool! you have boarded the wrong bus. Your bus is Nevsehir transport, this is Kent transport!" I was like but I asked so many people including one person who boarded this very bus, and the driver of the bus itself! I showed my ticket to him when he was putting the luggage in and asked him if this is the bus and he happily took my luggage. I of course said all of this in English and the conductor didn't understand a word of it. Anyways, he concluded the conversation saying - No Problem!

So I assumed all is good and he will do something about it. He tried to call my bus company to see if they are behind us and if I can be transferred to that bus. Unfortunately because of the many stops we made, the bus had gone ahead of us so a transfer wasn't possible. After a while, he realized that the Canadian girl has also boarded the wrong bus (of course, we boarded it together). Now he lost it. He first asked her that she will have to get down, then said she will have to pay the fare again. She and I had a conversation later on and figured that in the worst case we might have to buy the ticket again but will try not to since it's their mistake that they took our luggage in. All this while he is on the phone talking to different people and looking in amazement at our tickets and talking the driver in a tone that was getting madder and madder with every passing minute. My next seat neighbour meanwhile was kind enough to translate his conversations to me from Turkish to sign language and some simpler Turkish. The last thing I understood the conductor said was - Problem!

The previous day I had read a story on Lonely Planet about two women who were left stranded on the highway at night by a Turkish bus company with their luggage and nowhere to go. This was when they had valid tickets! So, I was aware of what these bus people were capable of doing and was getting mentally prepared for the worst. At around 11:45 the bus reached a station called Manavgat and I saw the Canadian girl get down from the bus. She told me that the conductor is asking her to get off the bus. He didn't say anything to me so I wasn't sure what to do but figured that the wise thing to do is get down. One, I didn't trust that guy and two, I didn't want to leave the girl alone at a random station at midnight.

There was one guy on the bus who understood English so he tried to help us check if we could somehow catch our original bus or take another bus to Goreme but both were not possible. He suggested that we should spend the night here and take a bus in the morning. We were both reluctant to do that as we would loose a lot of time, and when you are traveling time has a lot of value so we talked to a guy on the station and he helped us look for other buses.

We walked from the reservation counter of one company to the other till we could find one bus which was leaving for the town of Konya, somewhere halfway to Goreme. They said we will have to wait three hours in Konya and then can take a bus to Goreme eventually. To make matters worse, both of us were out of Liras, she had Euros and I had credit cards... so we were busy at each subsequent stop looking for ATMs or some place to exchange Euros for Lira. Anyway, we took that bus, reached Konya at about 4 am... waited for three hours, took another bus at 7 to reach Nevsehir (not Goreme yet) and then had to take another shuttle from Nevsehir to Goreme. So, what my hotel guy initially told me to be a direct bus, 16 hours and 60 extra Liras later turned out to be a five stop journey. A single journey in six buses - that is definitely a record I never intend to break in my lifetime!

Scene 3 - The Ugly
Location: Goreme
Time: 5 pm

Goreme - the dirt path with the ranch and tourist attractions in the background

My 2nd day in Goreme. This is after I posted a status message on facebook in the morning saying - "The Best Morning Ever!". I had a relaxed late morning early afternoon and at around 4:30 I decided to go for a walk/hike. It was getting quite hot so I decided against my original idea of mountain biking. I started walking towards a nearby town of Avanos which was about 4-5 kms away or so. I was walking along the highway (in the service road) as the directions were easy to follow along the highway. Almost parallel to the highway I saw a dirt road that was closer to the valley, the stone caves and in general seemed more of a scenic path than the highway. I noticed that there was a sign that it was a private ranch but then in a distance I could see some tourists on their quad bikes so I thought will take the dirt road instead. As I was about to cross the main road, I saw a car drive past and it slowed down as it went past me. The driver looked at me, probably to check if I wanted a ride somewhere, easy way for him to make a few bucks but I didn't want a ride so I didn't pay attention and crossed the road.

I would have barely walked a 100 meters along the dirt road when the same old white car came from behind and slowed down near me. This time the driver, Turkish looking, around 40, spoke to me in Turkish. I couldn't understand but he was suggesting that he can offer me a ride. I signalled to him that I wanted to walk instead and said thank you. He asked a few more times pointing towards the passenger seat but I said no and started walking again. He felt disappointed and took an unusually wide and slow U-Turn almost stopping in front of me once but drove away eventually. I barely walked for another 500m and had stopped to take a few pictures when I saw him again this time coming from the opposite side towards me. Now it started to bother me. I thought I will step aside to take pictures and he will drive away but as I stopped, he also stopped at a short distance from me. I must have waited there for about 5-10 minutes and he waited there as well.

Anyways, I had to move on sometime, and as i walked past him, he asked me in English what was my name. I answered politely and kept walking and then he said something else in Turkish. I didn't get it so he repeated it, this time pointing his finger apparently in the general direction of his dick! This was outrageous and I didn't know how to react but I definitely didn't feel any further obligation to be polite and I started walking away. A few moments later I turned just to make sure he was not following me and to my utter disgust he stepped out of the car with his pants down!! I was shocked and appalled and at this stage let me add, a little scared too. I immediately turned away, left the dirt track and stepped on to a large patch of grass that divided the parallel tracks as he couldn't drive on to it.

Now I was moving towards the ranch where I could see some tourists at a distance as I was pretty much alone on the dirt road. I heard the engine a few seconds later and turned back to see that he was driving away from me pretty fast. I wasn't sure whether he was gone for good or was going to make a U-Turn and come back. So, my immediate objective was to reach somewhere where I can see other people and meanwhile stay on a path where he can't drive. Unfortunately, the area was almost uninhabited and the tourists were few and far between. I was not able to figure out whether I should move towards the highway in which case I give that Psycho the chance to intercept me on the dirt road in between or to move further towards the ranch where he had little chance of driving by but which was much more isolated.

I kept on walking for another 20-30 minutes thinking of all possibilities (hiking, sightseeing and photography was the last priority at this moment) and feeling surprised at how something like this can happen in such a touristy town, with apparently so many people around (not too many at that time though) and so close to the highway on one side and tourist attractions on the other. I was perhaps lost in these thoughts when all of a sudden I saw that car appear on a parallel dirt road coming from the opposite direction. Now I was really scared! This time I started running and after a few minutes of sprinting saw a house in the seemingly deserted area with an old man attending to his garden. I was quite relieved at seeing him and walked up to him and just had a conversation (he spoke broken English) and waited for some time till I could no longer see the car. I understood my location on the map from him and how I could get to the highway from there. The highway wasn't too far from there and I figured I could walk it in max 5-10 minutes, which I did with a brisk walk keeping an eye out for that psycho.

This was the third time in life I was delighted at the site of a main road, the other two were when I was utterly lost once in Scotland and once in South Dakota. Now, I could see shops and other cars along the way and felt quite relaxed. I did go along the highway for another km or so before deciding to get back. This time I made sure I stuck to the highway to be safe, but still couldn't help getting alarmed at the sight of any white car. People talk of the dangers of traveling alone for women, I say it's not easy being a solo guy traveler!

IstanBlue

I think there's something funny about a guy smoking in a jogger's park. And it gets intriguing when you find most men and women doing the same. And then you realize, for most people in Istanbul going for a walk in the park is no different from taking a stroll down the bustling city markets, having a cup of tea or smoking a waterpipe at one of the numerous joints in the side streets of the city. They are just going about their life doing what they like to do - and the list is not long - having tea or coffee, chit chatting either among themselves or with travellers, playing backgammon(arguably Turkey's national game), smoking and finally either buying something or selling it (depending on we are talking of a tourist or local) usually in some combination of each other. And if you happen to be in this park that I am sitting in at the moment (Gulhane Park - the city's largest and most popular park by the way) add making out to the list as well!

It's a Monday afternoon and I wonder how do so many young Turkish men and women manage to be in a park. It does say something about the employment rate or the attendance level in the Istanbul University! The park reminds me of the Central Park in New York City - prime location, very green, beautiful landscaping, well maintained - not as big but then Istanbul isn't as big as NYC either. The similarities between the two cities go a little further than the park. Both are very popular tourist destinations, Istanbul surprisingly is quite cosmopolitan and liberal as well, both a shopper's paradise and both quite expensive! (yes, that's right, gone are the days when Istanbul used to be the poor tourist's destination in Europe).

Turkey is often referred to as the most liberal Muslim country but you have to see it to believe it. Take a 360 degree look around you anywhere in the city and for every woman draped in a head scarf you will find three wearing a mini skirt, and its not just tourists I am talking about. What surprised me is that women can wear almost anything even to a mosque though to enter the prayer area they have to cover themselves up (the mosques provide scarfs and drapes to women). Even women who choose to wear scarves in public are very comfortable holding hands of their partners, cuddling and sometimes kissing in public (otherwise they have this park!).

It's my fourth day in the city and I am still struggling to assign a theme to the city, or at least to put it in words. I have so many, sometimes conflicting, characters of it ever since I stepped out of the Ataturk airport. For the first 20 minutes you drive along an international class 6 lane highway full of modern expensive cars, Mercedes and Volvo buses (there are too many buses in Istanbul by the way!) and you think well it's a pretty modern looking city and all of a sudden your bus makes a left turn to enter Sultanahmet, the main tourist area and you are greeted with a maze of narrow cobbled streets that has Europe written all over it, a maze only your driver can decipher (you will eventually get the hang of it in a couple of days). My driver happened to break the side mirror of a parked car while manoeuvring a tight corner on one such street.

Sultanahmet is full of mosques and monuments of religious and historical importance that cut across religions, countries, empires and centuries. Cross the Ataturk or Galata bridge and come to Taksim and you will be forgiven to think that you are in SoHo (without the sky scrapers). You will find a nostalgic tram in Taksim and a state of the art metro train service elsewhere in the city. No matter what you want to buy, Istanbul has something to suit your taste - from high street shopping in Taksim to haggle your way to death in the Grand Bazaar, and various intermediate options spread across the city. Grand Bazaar is unique in itself - over 5000 shops in 60 streets, it's a jigsaw puzzle daring you to take a shot at it. It will take you days to see them all but fortunately you don't have to as many shops sell similar stuff. Be prepared to bargain shamelessly and don't ever make the mistake of thinking that you found an original Gucci bag for a steal! The stuff looks nice but if the price is too good to be true, it most certainly is a fake. Leave the expensive stuff for authentic stores, Grand Bazaar is for trinkets and souvenirs, in other words, things that if you end up over paying for, won't haunt you in your sleep :) Most of what you find here will be available elsewhere in the city at a more reasonable price but you may have to look a little harder. But if you really like something at a shop and decide to check out other shops for a better price, make sure you have a way to make it back to the shop, as I said it's a maze - I got lost multiple times and in one case kept coming back to the same shop no matter how hard I tried to get away from it!

There is so much more to talk about Istanbul - the spice bazaar, the numerous mosques, the food (not necessarily in a positive way), belly dancing, backgammon, the special treatment meted out to Indians along with some other third world citizens at the airport, the beautiful weather, the cruises along the Bosphorus river, the carpets, the single tourist guy scam (topic for another blog!), the history and so on. But just like I had only 4 days to spend here, I am sure most of you have a limited time to read my blog so I will skip some of these for a later day. As I said before, I am not going to be able to do justice in characterizing the city but one thing is for sure that as much as the Bosphorus river tries to separate the European Istanbul from the Asian one, the cliche of West meets East finds its true meaning in Istanbul.

It's Not About The Bike... Or Is It?

Let's face it, only Lance Armstrong can dare say that it's not about the bike, for the rest of us mortals it's as much about the bike or may be more than it is about us. Consider this scenario for example - I am stopped at a red signal, standing next to a Honda Civic and am drawing more attention than the car from people around me. Is it about the bike? Hell ya! Hopefully by the time you are finished reading this post you will realize what makes the bike more noticeable than a Honda.

(More photographs at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=198483&id=528135688)

When I took a fall from my bicycle about a month ago or so, most of my friends asked me to be safe... when I had a close call with one of the BEST buses last week again people reminded me of safe cycling... same thing happens when I tell them that I ride on the express highways as well. The fact that I ride at night sometimes also troubles the people who care for me. These things lead people into thinking that I am not a safe rider. Quite on the contrary in fact. I consider myself among the safest cyclists in the city. Let's start from the safety equipment - I use a high quality imported Helmet to protect my head, cycling glasses to prevent my eyes not just from pollution and particles but also to increase visibility in rain, gloves to reduce the impact of handle vibrations and to prevent abrasions from a fall, professional grade knee guards and elbow guards to prevent injuries during a potential fall or a vehicle hitting me while moving too close, a powerful headlight to help me see and help others notice me at night, a flashing tail light to let other drivers see me, reflective tape on the wheel along with the regular reflectors and a reflective band on my ankles that also prevents the pants from getting tangled in the cogs. Now let's talk about riding style - first of all I consider myself as just another vehicle on the road and I follow all traffic rules. I stop at red signals, I stick to my lane, make appropriate signs while changing lanes or turning and maintaining the right speed.

I think every car driver or motorcyclist or bus driver is used to watching cyclists go at slow speeds and then change directions all of a sudden to land up on their way... and that's what they are expecting from every cyclist now so when they find someone who is actually behaving like a cyclist should, they just don't know how to react. They still honk at you from miles away even if you are two lanes apart. I think what hits the other vehicles the most is the fact that I can go pretty fast and sometimes faster than them depending on the road condition and the traffic. I have had motorcyclists and car drivers make remarks at me while overtaking, without realizing that they are barely at the same speed as me or slower if I am the one doing the overtaking.

Then there is something to be said about watchmen and security guards... I am not sure why these folks happen to not like cyclists so much. I have had trouble with them at my office parking, at Vihar Lake, at IIT Powai and so on... I would like to think that I am making the least amount of trouble for them of all people they come across but it's probably about them wanting a vent for their day to day frustration and a cyclist is probably less likely to retaliate than a car driver... size does matter after all.

The people who seem to enjoy my presence on the road the most are the street kids. They will admire all the major and minor details about the bike (whatever they can notice)... the most common ones being the gear system and the disc brakes. I have had strangers (mostly other cyclists) or kids ask me about the price of the bike or where I bought it from. The kid that works in my neighbourhood grocery store rode past me one day and asked me if I live in such and such building... every time I go out to ride at least 5-10 kids wave at me or make some funny comment... sometimes they will ask me to give them a ride... some of them would even try to tempt me to race! You look at their behaviour, compare it with the behaviour of other people and can't fail to realize that the craze for cycling is primarily limited to teenagers in India and most of us just loose respect for it as we grow up as if to say, if it doesn't run on petrol then it doesn't deserve my respect.

It's not about the bike to the extent that the fanciest of the bikes is pretty useless if it sits in the garage or at home all day. And to be able to ride consistently and over long distances in a city like Mumbai you need to make sure that the ride is not just safe but convenient also. This implies getting a ton of accessories for the bike, some of which are pretty expensive. For example, the headlight, the gloves, the lock, the helmet, the protective guards, each one of them costs more than the last bike I had (an Avon Muddy Montage during my IIT days). I can't imagine myself spending that kind of money on accessories for a barebones bike like I had before. But more than safety, more than convenience, it's the motivation that actually gets you riding... and this is where it becomes all about the bike! There is so much to look forward to when riding it... the lightweight that helps me carry it through the stairs to and from my home on the 3rd floor, the 24 gear system that makes going up the inclines a breeze and speeding past the arrogant motorcyclist or the obnoxious bus driver possible, the disc brakes that lend you confidence during the rains or at high speeds, all coming together in a beautifully designed and impeccably manufactured machine that almost seems to promise to last forever. Add to it the feel good factor of doing good to the environment, staying healthy and adding some fun to your exercise regime.

The maximum I ever rode on a bicycle in a day all my life was probably 10 kms or less. Since I got this bike 3 months ago, I have already stretched that number to 70kms and I feel I can push it beyond 100. I ride at over 50kms an hour at times, feel great about overtaking cars while doing that, enjoy the Mumbai rains more than I ever did, feel young and childish enough to want to do stunts I never tried as a kid, dream about riding down to Lonavala on a rainy day or participating in the next Mumbai Cyclothon. I have seen more corners of Mumbai on the bike in 3 months than I did otherwise in 2 years. It's making me fall in love with the city all over again.

It's definitely about the bike.

Nature's Beauty. Nature's Wrath

Photographs at picasaweb.google.com/himanshu.saraf/TrekkingInHimalayas

 

This was the 7^th day of my Himalayan trekking expedition to Sar Pass. We started off with two days of conditioning at the base camp in Kasol at 6500 ft, then climbing to the next higher camp of Guna Pani at 8000 ft, followed by Faul Pani at 9500 ft and then Zirmi at 11,000 ft on the 5^th day. Yesterday, we had set out for Tila Lotni at 12,500 ft. This was supposed to be the toughest of all camp sites with very low temperature, high probability of rain and snow and a difficult path to traverse. This however was also the camp that would lead us to our ultimate destination, the Sar Pass at 13,800 ft. On our way to Tila Lotni, we met, to our surprise, the group that had left a day ahead of us for Sar Pass and should be ideally on their way from Tila Lotni to Sar Pass. We learned from them that the weather in Tila Lotni and Sar Pass that morning was so bad that they were advised by their camp leader to drop the idea of crossing Sar Pass and return to the base camp instead. They were all heartbroken obviously for not being able to complete the trek but they were still singing and chanting slogans on their way back. They wished for us to be able to cross Sar Pass and I jokingly said that we would pass it twice, once for us and once for them!

 

We had met the guide from the other group a couple of days ago in a lower camp and I had taken a few of his photographs. So, he recognised me and started talking to me. I asked him how cold it was up there and if one jacket was enough. He told me that the sole fleece jacket I had won’t be enough for the cold weather at Sar Pass and he suggested that I take his jacket. I tried to refuse but he insisted. I still didn’t want to take his jacket with no way of returning it, so he wrote his name on the sleeve and asked me to leave it at the tea stall at the first camp after descending from Sar Pass. I had to think thrice before taking it as every gram that was added to the back pack meant I will get tired faster on my way up. As it is, my backpack was already more than twice the recommended weight due to my tripod and other camera equipment. I still took the jacket thinking it will serve as a backup in case someone in the group needs it or the weather turns really bad. Regardless, I am still amazed by the simplicity of the people that live in the mountains and the level of trust they demonstrate even in strangers… wish there were more people like him in the cities.

 

We reached Tila Lotani in the afternoon but not before encountering rain and later on hailstones on the way. Some of us were quite unprepared for the rain and I ended up lending a rain sheet that I had brought to cover my camera bag to one of the girls who didn’t have a rain jacket. There was another girl who was using her regular jacket, which was not water resistant and to make matters worse she was climbing bare footed as she found her shoes too uncomfortable. This would prove to be a mistake later on.

 

It was close to 3 pm by the time we reached our campsite. We were quickly briefed by our camp leader about our schedule. It was simple - tea at 3 pm, soup at 4, dinner at 6, sleep by 7, get up at 3 am for bed tea, 4 am breakfast and start climbing at 5 am if the weather permits. We spent a few minutes outside to soak in the beauty of nature around us and admire the scenic vistas however the cold wave hit us pretty quickly and most of us chose to stay in our tents for most part, unless we had to come out to get tea or soup or dinner. After dinner I came to know that the girl who was walking barefoot had started vomiting and needed some medical attention. She had not been eating her meals properly either. Another girl had trouble breathing and had to be administered oxygen through a cylinder. One of my tent mates started complaining of a severe headache and nausea and he later decided not to continue with the trek and go back to lower altitude instead. We went to bed by 7 pm or so hoping for clear weather the next day so that we can be allowed to traverse through Sar Pass.

 

Nature had different plans though. It snowed all night and we woke up at 4 am (the bed tea was delayed because of the snow it seems), the entire campground and the surrounding mountains as far as we could see were covered with snow. It looked stunning but we were apprehensive of our chances to climb further up. The snowfall stopped in the morning and the camp leader felt that the weather has cleared and he allowed us to climb. He however advised the two sick girls not to climb but left the choice with them if they wanted to risk their lives by joining the group. They chose to climb. Pretty brave… might not be too wise in retrospect but courageous nonetheless. So for the first time in 7 days we started trekking in snow… and what snow it was… several inches of fresh powder… had I not been on a trek I would be tempted to snowboard there! We were accompanied by two Sherpas and we were ordered to obey their instructions at all cost. One of the instructions was to walk in a single line and only put our foot in the marks of the person in front of us.

 

This was it… this is what I came for here… to me the previous 6 days were a prerequisite I had to meet to qualify for this day… trekking in fresh snow in the Himalayas, vast stretches of untouched snow in front of me, no roads, no trails, no foot prints… just a sea of snow… as far as I could see. I was ready with my camera in anticipation of sceneries I had never seen. I didn’t know what to expect but I was expecting something unexpected certainly. The climb was steep and within minutes we were sweating in the freezing weather. The sun was still rising behind us and we slowly and steadily climbed 500-600 ft when it started to snow again. We however kept on climbing, on several occasions the sherpas had to help people climb, as it was very steep or slippery. As we were going up I couldn’t fail but notice that although the sun was rising it was getting darker slowly. There was a thick cloud cover all over the sky and the sky gradually turned from blue in the east to grey and then eventually black towards the west. The whole landscape could easily be painted on a greyscale… the only colours perhaps were of or clothing and bags. The snowfall was getting heavier by the moment and it was getting windy too, resulting in a chill factor. We were starting to feel cold now, specially on the exposed body parts such as nose and lips, and for me fingers as well from operating the camera. This was the time I thanked from my heart the guide who gave me his jacket. I don’t think I could have managed without it; the weather was much severe compared to my expectations when I was planning for the trek.

 

By the time we ascended a few 100 ft more, we were staring at a snowstorm that was looking to get worse. The wind was so strong that one guy lost his rain jacket out of his hands to the wind! We had somehow made it t almost 13500 ft and were just a few hundred feet away elevation wise from Sar Pass, though distance wise it was still another 2 kms or so I think. We could see in the distance where we were heading and it was not a pretty sight… a snow covered mountain, totally eclipsed by the snowstorm and the frightening black skies… it reminded me of a scene from the movie Lord of the Rings. We were standing at the top of a wedge shaped mountain with a deep valley on one side and a slippery slope on the other side. Just the thought of a wrong step in either direction was enough to make your legs tremble for a second. The sherpas told us that the weather is bad here; it’s worse at Sar Pass and will get even worse as time progresses. All of a sudden there was a question mark on the feasibility of our expedition. Some people were suggesting we go back while others wanted to go ahead since we had already come such a long way and I agreed with them. Standing at that point, for a few minutes while the sherpas were talking to the group leader, I couldn’t stop thinking how moments like these define your true character, what you really are, what life really means to you and what you live for. Whether someone wanted to continue on the trek or go back to the camp was a manifestation of the above. There was a woman who had some family issues back home and she couldn’t be any happier if we decided to go back. Another girl who was feeling very cold and was in a very bad shape physically still wanted to go all the way. I remember her telling me a few days ago that she feels that although she is happy there is no purpose to her life… that would explain her choice. For most part, it was someone’s love, anticipation of meeting someone back home, going back to your family or the life you so cherish at home that drives you to go back from such a point. At the same time, the sense of accomplishment, an extreme liking for adventure and exploring what’s ahead of them, the desire to do what most others can’t, a sadistic pleasure derived by subjecting yourself to extreme conditions, trying to hurt yourself because you want to hurt someone else or just simple ego that they will look weak if they go back… are the primary reasons that people push themselves to keep going. I am not sure what were my reasons, I am not even sure whether I had a stronger desire to traverse Sar Pass or not to go backward but one thing was very clear in my mind – I wanted to move ahead and face that storm, irrespective of the consequences. I had thought of the worst and for some reason it didn’t bother me.

 

My chain of thought was broken by a discussion among people around me. Turned out that one girl had started feeling very cold and was finding it hard to cope up with it. Another girl, who was on oxygen previously got too scared and had started crying. We told our group leader that we want to move ahead, the group leader had a talk with the sherpas and the sherpas eventually told him that they will not recommend moving forward because of the bad weather and if the group wants to go ahead it should do so at its own responsibility. The fact that there were quite a few people in the group who weren’t well prepared for conditions like these, that some people wanted to go down anyways, and that two girls were in bad shape was enough to make the group leader take the call to go back.

 

So, within 300 ft elevation and a few kms distance of our destination we decided to go back. Most of us were dejected at not being able to achieve in theory what we came for, but for most practical purposes we had done what we set out for – experience the beauty of nature in one of the purest forms, while damaging it in the least possible way. I am not sure what the final 300ft had in store for us, but not knowing it doesn’t in the least take anything away from what we had experienced in traversing the 7000 ft till that point. If anything, nature has given me a reason to go back there and finish what I have left out this time.

Chandni Raat Mein Nauka Vihar

More photographs from the trip at: http://picasaweb.google.com/himanshu.saraf/Kerala

For my English readers, the title means "Boat ride in a Moonlit Night". For those who have studied Hindi as a subject in high school specially from CBSE board are probably familiar with the title as one of the sample essays at the end of the Hindi textbook or in a guidebook. I think it was in Grade VI or VII that I came across this essay and had since forgotten this phrase till yesterday when I found myself taking a boat ride in the backwaters of Kerala. I was a little late to arrive in the town of Allepey and by the time I got into a boat it was getting dark and I had missed the sunset. My disappointment however turned into delight soon after when I realized that it was an almost full moon night and I witnessed the picturesque rising of the moon at the horizon with the backwaters and the coconut trees in the foreground. The situation immediately reminded me of this long forgotten phrase (strange is the functioning of our memory I must say).

For a few minutes I smiled at the thought and then I felt I should share it with someone who was familiar with the essay. I didn't have the phone numbers for any of my high school class mates so I called some of my more recent friends, hoping they would have heard of it. So, I called one of them, asked her if she has studied this essay in school and upon confirmation told her that I am doing the same in the Kerala Backwaters and even before I could wait for a reaction from her, she goes, "You are boating in the backwaters alone?? How sad!" Apparently she thinks Kerala is the most romantic place on Earth and is only meant as a honeymoon destination and not a solo trip. I begged to disagree and called up another friend and explained the context to her just as I did to my first friend. She was a little less upfront in letting me know how sad my life was and put it as, "how can you manage to go to such a place alone?" followed by "it's great!" Well, better than the first response at least. Then I get a call from my old roommate who didn't know I was in Kerala. Needless to say he was surprised to know of it too... but he is not a very expressive person so his reaction was limited to, "What are you saying? ... all by yourself?..." turns out that this was going to be the most encouraging response I was to get, later confirmed by another expression of shock I received on gtalk from a friend who already knew I was coming to Kerala alone and had turned down my offer to accompany me. I am not even going to tell you how my Mom reacted when she learnt that I am in Kerala by myself.

So, what is it with God's Own Country and single travellers? Are they like two north poles, oil and water, Ivan Lendl and the Wimbledon Championships that are just not meant for each other? I can understand when someone says that Kerala is a romantic place but then have all singles been permanently banished from romantic destinations? I have had my friends visit Paris or Switzerland during their internships or while making flight connections in Europe but no one really went after their lives. What is so special about Kerala that I am getting such a beating from everyone for making this blunder? So, when I asked the first friend who called Kerala the most romantic place on earth that what makes it so romantic, she was like... I don't know... my friends tell me so! Of course I can't go chasing her friends for that now... on a little more interrogation she admits that she is excited about Kerala because she can go to a good spa there. Good, but why is going to spa a romantic activity and you can't go for it alone? It turns out she wanted to go to Kerala on her honeymoon so that she wouldn't have to pay for the spa! So much for romance... I intend to conduct similar interviews with the other people who questioned my decision to go solo.

I was in Kerala for 3 and a half days and that doesn't do any justice to the place even remotely. So my observations/comments about the place should be taken with a grain of salt. Kerala is indeed an extremely beautiful place with great weather, picturesque sceneries all around, friendly people and a tranquility in the air that makes you feel at peace with yourself. I am sure there are a lot of activities that you might want to indulge in with your significant other but I find it hard to comprehend what it is that should stop a single guy or girl from enjoying the aroma of a tea garden at Munnar, an elephant ride in the Periyar National Park, learn about the plantation of spices in Thekkady or witness a unique boat race in the Allepey backwaters. Whatever little time I spent there was worth it for me and had it not been for all the people reminding me that I am traveling alone, I wouldn't have missed the company of someone special to be able to enjoy any of it.

I am not upset with what people say or opinions they hold - to be honest I knew this reaction from people even before I left for the trip - but I am sure there are many like me who wish to visit Kerala or should visit Kerala but they don't just because it's been tagged as a honeymoon destination and forbidden for singles. I met two single girls from London who were on a week's trip to Kerala and they were having a great time (no they weren't on their honeymoon!). I don't think God intended that His country should be enjoyed only by those who come in pairs... and there is no reason we should try and make it that way. So, to all those lone travelers out there - Pack your bags! God's Own Country awaits you :-)

It is written...

30th March 2009, Michigan, USA

For those of you who have seen Slumdog Millionaire, you would kind of get the drift of this post by the title, those of you who haven't, I will let you watch the movie :-)

So, I have been going over some of the recent incidents in my life with my close friends and for some reason these discussions always lead up to a point where someone says Oh it was all for the good... or It probably wasn't meant to be... or It was not in any one's control... And then they will go on explaining how they know of certain events in the past that could only be explained by a concept called destiny.

I for one never believed in it. I think it's a side effect of being an engineer or having a scientific mind... I think of anything in terms of logic, rationale and a proof. Now I have conducted hundreds of experiments inside the laboratory to prove or disprove different hypotheses but what's unique about the theory of destiny is that you can't conduct an experiment to verify or reject it. If we want to put it in scientific terms, the hypotheses would say, "Any event that occurs in your life, would have occurred irrespective of any one's actions leading up to that event" e.g. if I am destined to get late for office tomorrow, it wouldn't matter whether I sleep in time tonight, sleep late or don't sleep at all, I would get late regardless. Now if I wanted to verify it then I can try and stay up all night and go to office in time tomorrow to disprove the destiny theory but the catch lies in the fact that no one tells the hypotheses before hand... it's always a hindsight and hindsight we all know is 20/20. If I stay up all night and go to the office in time, proponents of destiny would say, well I was destined to be on time then! For me to able to conduct an experiment to prove or disprove the theory, one of two things have to happen. I either need to be told what's destined BEFORE it happens or I need the capability to go back in time after the event happens to change my actions leading up to the event to see if the outcome differs. Let's consider these one by one.

The first condition - knowing what's destined beforehand. I don't know if this can be done or not. There are a lot of people in this world who make a living out of telling others their fortune. I wonder if such a person can tell anyone how much money he is going to make by telling fortunes on any given day before the day starts... Now, we all know that these people are sometimes right and most often either wrong or vaguely correct (when they say something like next year is going to be a very crucial year for you...). So, if these people are proven wrong on an occasion does that mean there is no destiny... not really... all we can say from this experiment is that particular person didn't make an accurate prediction... The event that he predicted may not have occurred either because he didn't know what he was talking about, or because of the fact that the knowledge of the future event led someone to change his actions to avoid it from happening or that the outcome was never meant to be fixed... and no one could have predicted it. And proponents of destiny will always tell you that it was the first reason... that you didn't talk to the right guy... what happened was indeed your destiny but the fortune teller wasn't good enough to tell... So, that's a deadlock.

The second condition - going back in time. Now, we have all seen Back To The Future, read about H G Wells Time Machine, fascinated by Arnold's journey back in time to save his folks in Terminator 2 and some of us have contemplated the possibility of time travel made possible by the existence of a unified field theory... but till someone gets a Grand Super Duper Noble Prize by making it possible I find it easier to stick to the theory of general relativity and say that nothing can travel faster than light and hence you can't go back in time.

So, now that both the possibilities are ruled out how do I conclude either way? There are two major kinds of explanations in science... hypotheses and law (there is a 3rd kind called theory as well but it's not going to make a difference to this discussion so let's chuck it). Let me explain the difference. Hypotheses is an educated guess based on general observation. It offers you a rational explanation of an event based upon an observation. It can't be proven but can be disproved, So once a hypotheses gains some acceptance by repeated observations, although it was never proven to be correct , it stands true until proven wrong. Most hypotheses however can be supported or refuted by experimentation or repeated observation.

A Law on the other hand explains events without telling you why it occurs. These are fairly simple, true, universal and absolute. There is no proof for a law and is taken at face value because it has always explained some events e.g. the law of gravitation... Newton never had to prove it, no one can... as long as it explains the apple falling towards the earth's surface, people will be happy to accept it.

Since we have already seen that destiny can't be proven or refuted, it's not a hypotheses. Do we want to call it a law? I think this is where the divide occurs... there are some of us like me who wouldn't even put destiny and law together in one room and others who can't imagine the two being separate entities. And once you say it's a law, you no longer require a proof. You make your observation and destiny will always explain that observation (remember by definition, whatever you observe is destiny!!) so for those people it's no less than Newton's Law of Gravitation... and non believers like me trying to find an answer to this question... we are sort of in the same situation as King Vikramaditya was when he had to fetch Betaal from the tree... we are trying to answer a question... if we know the answer Betaal flies back to the tree... the only way we can fetch him is to not know...

A Perfect Weekend...

29th March 2009, Michigan, USA

I had been in US for two weeks and had not ventured out much from my hotel except for going to the office or an occasional dinner. So, when I made an impromptu plan to go to Chicago and Milwaukee on one weekend, I felt pretty good about it. A trip to Chicago served a dual purpose - it was a transit point for Milwaukee which was my final destination, and I had to visit the Dutch embassy to apply for a Schengen visa. I left home pretty early in the morning to catch the train and it was a very cold morning, perhaps the coldest on this trip. I reached the station way before the scheduled departure time of my train and had to wait outside for an hour in the cold for the station to open... yes the station doors were locked!

It was meant to be a 3 hour train journey, taking me to Chicago at 11:15. The Dutch embassy closes at 12:30 and was about a 10 minute drive from the train station so I had thought I will be there in time to apply for the visa. Unfortunately, the train got delayed on its way to Chicago because of construction work... delayed by almost 40 minutes! I reached Chicago at about noon, rushed out of the station, took the first cab I saw and for the first time in life, sat in a cab with a lady driver (big mistake!). I gave her the address of the embassy and just to be extra safe I told her that it is the Netherlands Embassy and I asked her if she knows the place. She looked at me and said, "I know this address but that's not where the embassy is... the embassy is in a different direction" Then she asks me where do you want to go.. I said I have a visa appointment so I need to go to the embassy... and she insisted it's somewhere else... well, I was a bit perplexed but I decided to stick with the address I had and it turned out that the embassy she had in mind was the Indian embassy and she had assumed that being an Indian, that's where I wanted to go!

Anyways, I reach the embassy building at about 12:15, and as I walk into the lobby, I saw that there is a lady with a sign in register at the front desk. I could have ignored her and taken the elevator to my desired floor but for some reason I thought I would sign in (2nd mistake!). I told her that I want to go to the Dutch embassy and she is like oh sorry, you can't... they are closed! I am like what? I regained my senses quickly and told her that I believe it's open till 12:30 and I will like to give it a shot. So, I go the embassy and miraculously the embassy was open during the hours they claimed to be open... if only I was naive enough to believe the lady at the front desk...

It was a short line for the interview, with 4 people ahead of me and turned out that I was the last person for the day. Two guys in front of me were applying for their visa together. One Colombian guy and another Chinese, both students in a US university and were going on a few weeks Eurotrip. Man, were those guys clueless or what... they absolutely had no documentation, hadn't bothered to check the requirements of the visa and didn't have an idea of their itinerary. They were accompanied by a friend who apparently had traveled quite a bit and knew a lot about visa requirements and procedures. It was funny watching those guys being interviewed and this girl whispering answers to them from behind :-) ... the interviewer would ask what is your date of arrival in Netherlands, and the Chinese guy will say 1st of July and the American guy will say 10th of July and the girl will yell (quietly) in the background... guys it's 1st of JUNE!! Then they will change the dates again and after a while something will hit them and the Chinese guy will ask the interviewer with a guilt, "can we change our dates again?"...

The interviewer was being very helpful to them throughout. The guys didn't have their itinerary citing the reason that if the visa got rejected they would lose the booking fee on the ticket. She even told them that you don't have to book a ticket, just plan an itinerary on expedia or orbitz and print it out... just make sure it coincides with your intended dates of travel... The Colombian guy didn't have proof of sufficient funds and he said that the Chinese guy has it and he will cover the whole expense.. and the interviewer is like, "well, you can get your mother's bank statements as a proof of funds, I can't accept your friend's statement unless he is your... you know... he is just a friend... " :-) . The interviewer had to explain them each and everything about the visa process, and she had to ask them to fax her pretty much all the required documents... I must say that she was extremely patient and nice about the whole thing. If it was a US embassy those guys would have been rejected 10 times over in the duration they were at the window. After their interview, the Chinese guy turns to the girl and says... you know... I am thinking... and the girl goes.. "Joe! Please don't think!! just get the hell out of here before they reject you :-)"

So, my turn comes... I tell her that I think I have all the documents in place... and I did. The only problem she pointed out was that I should have applied for the visa in India and I may or may not get approved... but I knew that I will, so I didn't bother much. It was a short interview but by the time the interview got over it was almost 1:15... I never imagined that people work beyond the stipulated hours in any embassy... I must say I was very impressed by the Dutch courtesy.

I had to catch a train to Milwaukee after that but I still had about 2 hours to the next train and the weather was pretty nice. It was windy and cold but sunny so I decided to walk to the train station and check out the Chicago downtown... I had been there before a couple of times but this part of the downtown was new to me... plus I was walking along the river which I love doing... that's one thing I enjoy about big American cities, almost all of them have a river , harbour or sea... New york, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco... anyways, so I walked along enjoying the weather and taking a few pictures. I felt hungry after a while as I didn't have breakfast so I stopped by a nice cafe, had a grilled sandwich, ate it by the window looking outside... had a coffee to go and started walking again... it probably took me about half an hour or a little more to reach the station but it was a pleasant walk... and on the way I encountered a few familiar sights... I came across the Deloitte office and although I had never been to this office before it still meant something to me as I had sent my application to the Chicago office though I was eventually hired in Washington DC. All this time I was looking for another landmark, i had a vague recollection that it's somewhere in the downtown, didn't know where... and suddenly I found it... right around the corner from Deloitte's building... it was an Au Bon Pain cafe in the lobby of a building... and a few floors above was the office of the company that had made me the first job offer after my graduation... suddenly those days after school flashed in front of my eyes... the job search, interviews, cover letters, phone screens... the interview in Chicago, the coffee I had in Au Bon Pain after the interview while reading "Threads" by Joseph Abboud... and suddenly I felt I missed something... don't know what...

The station was very close by from there... the train was on time and in an hour and half I was in Milwaukee. My friend from Baltimore, Vijay was there to pick me up. I met him after about 4 months and I must say that at the time I left USA to go back to India, if someone had told me that I will get to attend the weddings of 3 of my best friends in US and that I will get to see some of them once every few months, I wouldn't have believed it... at that time it felt like I am leaving most of it behind for good... how shortsighted was I...

Things have changed a lot though... as I said 3 of my best friends including Vijay are now married, so now I get to meet his wife Nandini as well. Last time I visited them she taught me how to make some authentic South Indian food :-) . She wasn't feeling too well this time so I didn't insist on learning something new though just like last time, she did have aloo parathas ready for me! And yes, I was ecstatic to find a tulsi plant in his house... it has been years since I had tea with fresh tulsi leaves... so I made it a point to make tea the next morning with tulsi leaves :-) Most of Friday was spent talking, catching up with the happenings in each others lives... some words of wisdom exchanged, some banter, some leg pulling and some funny stories told and remembered... :-)

Next day was planned to the minute... we got up, I made poha with tulsi tea and then sat in the balcony to soak in some sun (all part of the plan! wasn't like we were wasting time)... then we went out for lunch to meet some friends, i knew only of them, the wife of another very close friend of mine from Baltimore. It was again a nice, sunny day and we were delighted to be outside. The wind made it colder than it was but pleasant nonetheless. We met the other group at the restaurant... it was an Indian buffet... I always thought that I am a perfect customer for these restaurants that run buffet meals... I don't eat meat, hardly eat much in vegetarian food and to their delight don't touch any desserts... Anyways, it didn't take long for everyone to mix up and know each other. After lunch we decided we will go the lake shore and enjoy the sun. We walked along a pier for a while but it was getting increasingly windy as we went deeper into the water so most of us decided were in favor of not going too far. One of us had a cricket bat and a few tennis ball in the car trunk so we brushed up on our cricket skills. It was fun playing after quite some time but the biggest discovery of the day was that Kalpana is a better player than her husband Karthik.

After cricket, the girls tried their hand at children's swings and they sucked at it... then they jogged in the sand with leather shoes on... that was hilarious to watch... and from there it went funny to crazy... we played tic tac toe in the sand, then kadakko... for which no one remembered how to draw the boxes, I thought I will call up my cousin in India to get some instructions but it was pretty late so I let it go. Then we played langdi-choo (or langdi taang or whatever you call it)... it's this game where you divide yourself into two teams and one player from a team goes into the other team's court hopping on one leg and has to touch someone and come back to her court... turned out to be a lot of fun... and I rocked, never went out even once! :-) Then people raced, first on two legs and then graduated to a three legged race... reminded me of high school days! We ended our beach session on a high note by playing the super hit game called Ramu! Thanks Paliwal for introducing us to this game more than 3 years ago... and I have never lost in it since then.. with all due modesty, I rock in this game :-) ... all the Gold Spots can vouch for it! (I apologize to those who are missing the context here... may be I will explain the game in a separate post)

The day wasn't over yet... there was a cool retro style cafe near the lake, so we all went there, grabbed a cup and had a nice long conversation. Something weird happened in between... an American guy... kind of in his 30s, tried to make conversation with me and he was so so weird. I couldn't make head or tail of what he said to me, he had a cross hanging from his neck so I thought he is one of those guys who preach about religion and all but none of his talk had a religious bend... he looked at me in a gay way but then he was too shabbily dressed to be one... he high-fived me for no reason whatsoever... anyways... someone in the group suggested we go watch a movie after the coffee but some of us were pretty tired by then so we decided to call it a day. Vijay, Nandini and I headed back home but we managed to stop by a Barnes and Noble and Boston Store to check out some stuff. By the time we reached home, all we wanted to do was eat something, lie down, listen to music, chat and sleep... well, we deserved it!

Sunday was pack up day. We had to leave early for Chicago to meet some friends and visit a temple, so we got ready, made tea to go and headed out for Chicago. I didn't think I had been to that temple before but it looked awfully familiar, may be I had been to another one exactly like it. Met a couple of Nandini's friends there and it turned out that it's a very small world... her friends and I had a lot of common friends from my IIT days... we had delicious South Indian food in the temple and I even packed enough for me to bring home with me (it lasted me almost 3 days!)... Nandini's friends were fortunately headed in the same direction as my apartment so they graciously agreed to offer me a ride.. it was about a 3 hour journey and we made full use of this time cursing the hell out of the AIG guys, and the investment banks and anyone else who we didn't like.

It's almost always a hollow feeling after you come back to an empty home after being with those whom you like but I have done this enough number of times now to take it in my stride. I came home, turned on the TV, checked my email and got on with the real life...