Anil walked up in the house and looked around. Its been a hard day. He calculated and it was still 3 days before the weekend. He slumped on the sofa and switched on the TV. The 1 and half hour journey through Mumbai traffic really tired him and everyday he spent 2 hours in front of the TV doing absolutely nothing except surf through stuff he could not comprehend.

His fingers switched channels mechanically without any thoughts. There was nothing much except some family serials where all the family members fought with each other.

Suddenly his fingers stopped switching. He was looking at a quiz show. He looked at the watch. It was almost the end of the program. Maybe 4-5 questions more.

He let it stay.

The show contestants were a middle aged man and a young teenager. They were nervous and the host was doing his best to make them nervous and relax at the same time. A good host always keeps the excitement alive. After all its the TRP that counts.

The host asked the next question. Out of the 4 choices, the contestants had  to select one. Two wrong questions in a row and they were out of the game.

“USA” Anil muttered to himself

The contestants struggled. The host was enjoying himself

“USA. You stupid! USA” Anil was frustrated

The teenager took a chance and selected USA. The Middle aged man was on his second wrong answer. One more wrong answer and he was out. He did not stand any chance when he selected Spain. His logic, the other three he had heard about. He did not know much about Spain. Apparently he did not know much about USA either.

The host waited before revealing the answer putting some anxious movement in between. The middle aged man was disappointed and was out of the game. The host did the customary ritual of how great it was to have him.

The teenager had survived. The host went on with the show. He asked the next question.

The teenager fumbled again.

“Konark” Anil muttered bored by the seemingly easy question. 

“Amritsar” the teenager blurted out

“What?” Anil couldn’t believe what the teenager said.

“Your 5th standard question you idiot” Anil was fuming.

The host was enjoying it

“Yeh answer….” a long pause

Suspense music. The host waited, the audience gasped, the idiot smiled nervously, Anil just knew

“Yeh answer galat hai” The host finally said almost laughing. He was enjoying this, very much.

“How do you get selected?” Anil was frustrated “How do you come so far?”

The host was ready with the second last question. Another wrong answer and the teenager was out. A right answer and he was close to the winning question and maybe a big prize

The question was asked. Anil sat at the edge of the sofa

“K2” Anil said to himself again expecting the teenager to hear the correct answer

The teenager did a quick eeny meeny maina moo. The audience waited.

“Annapurna” The teenager appeared unsure of his answer but he was still taking a risk.

Anil smacked his forehead with his palm “Abey! Kya yaar?”

The host was delighted. He could try his tension-growing, sad-face technique now. And he did just that.

After a whole minute of waiting and dilly-dallying he gave the bad news

The teenager smiled sheepishly. The host again did his customary ritual of saying bye to the participant. Anil shook his head as if he didn’t believe that anyone could give a wrong answer to such a simple question.

The host gave the usual speech about how no one made it till the end and how they will be back the next week but not before the question for the audience. The winners may get a chance to participate and ofcourse big prizes to be won.

By the time the credits rolled out, Anil had SMSed the answer. It was a stupid question after all and he knew that many, many people will SMS the correct answer and then the production team will sit and pull out a lottery for people. These people will participate and then the show will go on.

Anil knew the whole drill. He had SMSed for similar quiz show a number of times. It didn’t take much time and he knew the answers hoping that he would be lucky enough for the lucky draw.

He tried to recollect when was the last time he had won a lottery or any surprise gift. He knew the answer too.

Never!

He sighed and got up. It was time to cook up some dinner. He looked at the mobile phone bill kept on the dinning table. The itemized bill showed a big amount went for SMSes.

He shook his head in disbelief but he knew the answer

“I got to stop sending SMS to these games shows” he said to himself making a mental note to pay the bill next day

The TV was still on and on a different channel, another quiz show had just started!

=============

Note: When I watch a quiz show, I am sometimes surprised why the contestants cannot answer simple questions. However I have never been in the hot seat and answered questions and feeling the pressure of so many eyes watching you. But then again, Would I be there?

A story inspired by quiz shows on television.

===========

Fictionaries

Kothligadh

• Height – 1500 feet approx
• Difficulty level – Simple to slightly difficult.
• Visit during June to January

Getting There

• Kothligahd is 30 kilometers from Karjat. A Central Railway local will take you till Karjat. Local trains are the fastest way to reach Karjat. However the frequency of locals to Karjat are less. You may want to check time-table of the trains before you plan anything
• After getting down at Karjat, 6 seater popularly known as Tum-tums are available to take you to a village called Ambivali. State transport buses are also available but have fixed schedules and the frequency is less
• It is advisable to reach Karjat early in the morning. The late you get, the more difficult to walk in the hot sun
• Before travelling in Tum-tums, be sure to fix the fare. The cost comes around 300-400 depending upon how well you can bargain.
• Once in Ambivali, a road outside the village takes a small muddy diversion to the Peth Village
• Almost after walking for 1-2 hours on stony road, you reach the village Peth. A road is planned to the village in the distant future which will directly take you to Peth. However that looks more than 2-3 years from now or even more
• The fort is almost 45-60 minutes of a little difficult climb.
• The fort has a funnel shaped peak which has stairs carved inside. The top gives a 360 degree view of the whole area.

Tips

• Karjat is famous for its vada-paos. They are tasty.
• Food is available at Karjat, Ambivali and even in the village Peth. Try travelling light
• Water is available at the villages but the hot weather can make you awfully thirsty. So carry lots of water.
• The last state transport bus to karjat is available at evening 5:30 PM. If you miss that one, talk to the restaurant owner in Ambivali. He will arrange a tum-tum for you. However the cost will be a little higher.
• If you start from Dadar, it takes 2 hours to reach Karjat and 1 hour to reach Ambivali. The trek another 3-4 hours.

The fort

The picture is magnified but the lizard was a baby lizard totally camouflaged in the mud

We were tired walking to the fort but we saw villagers walking without any problem and with lots of weight too

The setting sun near the village Peth

Sachin Tendulkar almost did it again. He single-handed won the game, almost!

Chasing a big score of 350, India fell short of 3 runs. Sachin Tendulkar scored his 17000 One Day runs and that too in style scoring 175 runs in 141 balls with a strike rate of 124.11. At 36 he almost alone did what his team mates are supposed to do.

And yet India fell 3 runs short. He was undoubtedly the Man of the Match and when he came to pick up the prize for the Man of the match, the disappointment and the pain was clearly seen on his face. The pain of losing overshadowed the joy of 175 runs and 17000 ODI runs.

Yes! That was a stupid shot when he got out and we could argue that he should have played carefully when India needed him till the end.

But then again, Cricket is a team game!

Even though he played the greatest game of his career, its true. Even the god cannot go against fate!

Well played! Sachin!

When we finally reached the foothill of Kotjligadh, we had already walked for more than one and half hour. Peth is the village at the bottom of Kothligadh. With no good roads, I wonder how the people of these small hamlet travel to and fro for supplies and other needs.

The route up looked still tough. We found a villager who ran a small refreshment center in the village. He offered us water, cold drinks and food too. As per him, the route up was a mere 45 minutes but I knew what 45 minutes were when you are walking uphill.

After a small break and regaining my breath back, I was ready for the climb up. taking direction from the villager, we started our climb up. A small boy, Ganesh along with his dog offered us to show the way for a small fee of Rs. 5.

The path took us through a jungle route and without the boy, it may not have been that easy. The dog, Rani followed us mostly on the hope of some treat from us. After travelling a small distance and leaving us to the foot of the actual path in the forest, the Ganesh excused himself. We gave him 5 rupees and he left

But the dog was with us till the top. All attempts to send him back did not do any differnce

Ashwin walking through the jungle

The last houses before the start of the actual climb

That’s the route we came, the C-Valley

It was a grueling climb up. I was sweating so much that it looked like I had poured a bucket of water on myself. I need to reduce my body weight. Its making climbing difficult.

We were almost at the fort. The dog was still with us almost showing us the way when we couldn’t figure out the way through the thick vegetation,

After a lot of climbing up, we did reach the fort. The fort has a small cave with an inbuilt temple. Above the temple, stairs have been cut inside the peak, which takes you to the top of the peak.

It gives a 360 degree view from the top.

The village Peth below at the foot of the mountain

The lush green forest and field below near the village Peth

The cave below the peak. People stay here overnight. There is an option of cooking food and wood was kept in the cave probably by the villagers below

The temple at the foot of the peak. The sign outside the door say

“Krupaya ladies andar aana mana hai” (Entry for women restricted)

No reason given

The customary Mathew back photo

The canon was kept at one side of the fort. The canon had served its purpose well

Our long return path

Our narrow return path

Slowly we made our way back to the village and then a stony path back to where we came from, Ambivali

The love for music is universal. Almost everybody likes some form of music. Over the years, I have loved a lot of songs. Somewhere down the road, many of these songs have become hits. I don’t have a favorite song as such but I have a whole list. Being a hit means that a song is loved by many people. Also it means that it is heard more number of times than normal. I have found myself falling out of love to the overplayed songs so much so that I wished they had never become such a hit.

And there are some songs which never become hit for some reason of the other. The lyrics are good, the song is good, the singer has sung it well but then it does not work with the people. Over a period of time, it gets lost in time somewhere and when you hear it once in a blue moon, its bliss. These songs could have been hits and for some reasons, they never were or they did not enjoy the success that they deserved.

This is about those songs;

The Bhoole bisare Geet, The lost songs!

============================================

“Superstar” was supposed to be doomed from the word go. Kunal Khemu is not known to attract people to the theatres yet and with on his own without a father or brother to support him, he has little backing in the Hindi film industry.

But then “Superstar” was a decent movie with Tulip Joshi playing the female lead. It was about a movie star’s duplicate. Ironically the movie star is the son of a big producer. A story mirroring Kunal Khemu’s real life.

The movie had many good song where one particular song “Mann tu Talabet” became quite popular. I really don’t know what it means. But this post is not about the popular song. Its about the other song “Ajnabi Khwaab main…”

The sing had Kunal Khemu and it had a very music video feel with a touch of jazz. Accompanied by good dance steps, nice lyrics and nice music makes it a good song

• Song: Ajnabi Khwaab Main
• Movie: Superstar
• Year: 2008
• Director: Rohit Jugraj
• Music Director: Shamir Tandon
• Singer: Raaj

Ajnabi Khwaab mein, Dekh tha jo ho tum wohi
Dil mujhe le chala, chal pada mein to wohin

Ajnabi (Ajnabi) Khwaab mein, Dekh tha jo ho tum wohi; Dil mujhe le chala, chal pada mein to wohin

Raat din mein jaagta hun, beetey pal ko sochta hun;
Har kadam ko dekhta hun mein (2)

Ajnabi (Ajnabi) Khwaab mein, Dekh tha jo ho tum wohi; Dil mujhe le chala, chal pada mein to wohin

[ Ajnabi Khwab Mein Dekh Tha Joh Song Lyrics @ Http://Www.Hindilyrix.Com ]

Kuch to naya ehsaas hai, jo mera mann ud raha
Roke se bhi rukta nahin, kis or ye mud raha
Boondein ghiri khwahishon ki to mein;
Ek pal bhi na khud mein raha

Ajnabi (Ajnabi) Khwaab mein, Dekh tha jo ho tum wohi; Dil mujhe le chala, chal pada mein to wohin

Khusboo ghuli zazbaat mein, jaane paheli hai kyaa
Baithe huye socha karun, ye kyaa mujhe ho gaya
Zonkha koi ek anjaan sa, dhadkano ko meri choo raha

Ajnabi (Ajnabi) Khwaab mein, Dekh tha jo ho tum wohi; Dil mujhe le chala, chal pada mein to wohin

Raat din mein jaagta hun, beetey pal ko sochta hun;
Har kadam ko dekhta hun mein (2)

Wo.. oo

Ajnabi (Ajnabi) Khwaab mein, Dekh tha jo ho tum wohi; Dil mujhe le chala, chal pada mein to wohin

Bhoole Bisare Archive

It took me more that 2 years to reach the 200th post in Full2 Faltu. But my photo blog “Unaad” reaches 200 today. Its a faster journey going by the fact that I started it on 8 June 2009.

But then Full2 Faltu and Unaad are two different blogs and have two different needs. With almost 30 GB of data available, I do not have to think much for Unaad. With so much of raw material available, the “one photo per day” target is easily met.

I agree that maintaining two blogs is a little tiring at times and Full2 Faltu is sidelined sometimes. But Full2 Faltu is more me. Its a part of me and even though I may update it after a long delay, its a longer journey that has completed almost 6 years now.

As always Full2 Faltu would be still anonymous and I prefer it the way it is now.

Anyways, its Unaad day today and as my tradition goes in Full2 Faltu, a milestone demands a celebration.

With the 100 post special (101, 102, 103 and 104) was a silhouette special, 201-204 posts would be guest special

• The 200th Post by me – 9:30 AM IST
• The 201 by Mathew – 12:30 PM IST
• The 202 by Amol – 3:30 PM IST
• The 203 by Amit – 6:30 PM IST
• The 204 by Amit – 9":30 PM IST

A couple of days back, mom and I were watching TV. Actually I was surfing channels hardly staying on a single channel while mom was getting frustrated by my constant switching. On a particular music channel I manage to catch Kishor Kumar’s hit song from “Johnny Mera Naam”, the Dev Anand and Hema Malini starrer.

JMN is a thriller, revenge drama directed by Vijay Anandwhich was quite a hit in its times. JMN has this Kishor Kumar song picturized on Dev Anand and Hema Malini where Dev Anand is trying to woo Hema Malini who is staying in this big house and Dev Anand is outside singing.

At the end of the song, we were surprised how many windows and doors Hema Malini opens and shut downs and how on earth did anybody built a house like that.

I was inquisitive about the number of Windows in such a house and decided to count them. After watching the video and rechecking the data, I have finally found out the complete statistics

At the end of the 4:53 minute song, the number of doors and windows are as follows

• Doors – 6
• Windows – 12
• Bathroom ventilators – 3
• Round holes in the wall from where he sees – 6

This is kind of general Knowledge that you cannot use it anywhere but ki farak painda hai!!!

That reminds me of another confusing song which has the potential of stupid statistics

“Main Pal do pal ka shayar hoon” from the movie Kabhi Kabhi

The question is how many times the word “Pal” is sung in the song by Mukesh

As I am quite used to the technical audits in my job and do understand that mere statements cannot prove anything unless supported by statistics and data, I again went through the song to get the following statistics

The Song has a total 16 utterance of the word “Pal”

However this can be debatable and not an accurate figure. The lyrics goes something like this

“Main Pal do Pal ka shayar hoon” (I am a poet of a moment or two)

Which means that in the above line even if the word “Pal” appears twice, we cannot totally ignore when the singer says “Pal do pal”, which means 1 moment + 2 Moment which makes a total of three moments. i.e. Total three Pal. The song has 7 instances of the above line which means that we may not be counting the extra 7 “Pal”s

So as per our new research and revised figure, we derive the second statement

The song has a total 16 utterance of the word “Pal” but in total 23 “Pal”s were considered in the song

So now you know!

I do have lots of time in office!

You now have information which is totally useless!

Either you are thanking me or tearing your hairs!

Thank You!

25 October 2009

===============================

The last trip I had gone was back in September and I haven’t been on an October trip yet. Along with my friends, we had planned a trip with a nice jungle trail to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Unfortunately, we had only planned and not taken any action which meant booking at the last moment.

When it turned out to be full, we had to decide between not going at all or quickly find a new place to visit

Kothligadh is a small fort 30 Kilometers from Karjat. We had planned it back in August but could not go because most of the participants bailed out. We finally decided that this is the place we will go.

This time too, we had fewer people and in the end only seven agreed. We were

Kothligadh is in Karjat and it takes almost a two hour train journey to reach Karjat from Dadar. Another hour to actually reach the trek site. Six hours just to go and come back.

However we were delayed for more than a hour. We finally reached Karjat at 10:00 AM. Another 1 hour drive in the 6 seater popularly known as tum-tam and we were in Ambivali, a village at the bottom of the fort. From Ambivali, we had to reach the village Peth and then further climb for 45 minutes to the top of the fort.

The route to Ambivali

The route to fort from Ambivali

The trek starts from a small dusty and stony road off the main road. The road to the Peth village is the same stony, uneven road but its a uphill climb and walking on a sunny day can be very tiring

The fort is one the smaller hills but surrounded by some big hills like the Bhimashankar

Shortcut like this really does not help when you have to walk a great distance like below

Miles and Miles of bliss

Mathew with his back pose looking at the vast beauty

Ashwin walking alone over the stony road. The stones made our journey all the more difficult

I was exhausted by the time I reached the village and they called it simple.

The first view of the fort

Still a long way to go

The funnel shaped fort, Kothligadh

I call it the C-Valley just because its C in shape

Finally the Peth Village

Quite near and yet so far

Finally walking for more than an hour and a half, we finally reached village Peth but the tough part would start after that.

The love for music is universal. Almost everybody likes some form of music. Over the years, I have loved a lot of songs. Somewhere down the road, many of these songs have become hits. I don’t have a favorite song as such but I have a whole list. Being a hit means that a song is loved by many people. Also it means that it is heard more number of times than normal. I have found myself falling out of love to the overplayed songs so much so that I wished they had never become such a hit.

And there are some songs which never become hit for some reason of the other. The lyrics are good, the song is good, the singer has sung it well but then it does not work with the people. Over a period of time, it gets lost in time somewhere and when you hear it once in a blue moon, its bliss. These songs could have been hits and for some reasons, they never were or they did not enjoy the success that they deserved.

This is about those songs;

The Bhoole bisare Geet, The lost songs!

============================================

“Dhoka” was directed by Pooja Bhatt. A film based on terrorism where after a bomb blast, the wife of the investigating officer is found to be the suicide bomber. Lots of melodrama. Somewhere along the way it becomes too preachy. I haven’t seen the movie completely but sometime switching channels I caught the movie and then I heard the song.

Sung by Shiraz Uppal, I had liked it very much. The song touched a chord somewhere. It brings out the pain of losing a loved one.

The song is picturized on a new hero, Muzzamil and Tulip Joshi and is picturized when the character of Tulip Joshi is killed.

• Song: Roya Re….
• Movie: Dhoka
• Year: 2007
• Singer: Shiraz Uppal
• Lyrics: Sayeed Qadri
• Music Director: M M Kreem
• Director: Pooja Bhatt

Tanhaayi
Sangdil Tanhaayi
Sang Laayi
Yaad Teri Sang Layi
Baar Baar Ho Bahaar
Phir Se Yaad Aayi
Sooni Sooni Raah Dil Ki
Jisne Jee Sajayi
Tanha Dil

Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re

Har Taraf Bikhri Hain Teri, Yaadon Ke Hi Nishaan
Meri Har Ik Cheez Mein Hai, Teri Hi Parchayiaan

Tu Hi Hota Hai
Tu Hi Rehta Hai

Mujh Mein Har Dam Sada
Pass Bhi Tu Hai
Door Bhi Tu Hi

Hai Yeh Kaisi Khala
Yaad Ban Ke Ashq Teri
Aankhon Mein Samaayi
Yaad Ban Ke Ik Hasi
Honton Pe Bhi Aayi

Tanha Dil
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re

Chaand Suraj Bhi Waheen Hain, Hai Waheen Aasmaan
Zindagi Bhi Chal Rahi Hai, Chal Raha Hai Jahaan
Main Hi Thehra Hun
Khud Mein Simta Hun
Dil Hai Gham Se Bhara
Bin Tere
Kaise Jeeun Mein
Kuch To De Mashwara

Zindagaani Aisi Reh Guzar
Pe Mujhko Laayi
Saaye Se Bhi Ab Tere
Ho Gayi Judaayi

Tanha Dil
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re
Roya Re, Dil Roya Re

Bhoole Bisare Archive

I had seen Jantar Mantar in 2006 first. Unlike India Gate, I have visited Jantar mantar only twice.

Jantar Mantar built by Maharaja Jai Singh II from 1724 has 13 Astronomical instruments built to predict the times and movement of sun, moon and planets.

Although I still don’t understand how the instruments work, their unique architectural structure make a wonderful photographic opportunity.

The Samrat Yantra is actually a huge Sundial to tell time. In addition, it is also used for prediction solar bodies movement

A View of the Ram Yantra from outside. Its used to calculate the altitude of the sun. Its actually a twin similar structure.

Inside the Ram yantra. Circular in shape, stone triangle merge at a center pillar in between

Inside the Ram Yantra, looking up

Inside the Ram Yantra, a view below

I love the shadows made by the structure

An outside view of the Ram yantra

The Mishra Yantra predicted noon in various part of the world