The Dalhousie Trip - A Photographic Account

What: A collection of photographs from my trip to Dalhousie

Where: Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh, India (near Himachal-Jammu border)

When: 26th Jan, 2007 to 28th Jan, 2007

How: Train from Delhi to Pathankot (Punjab), then by road to Dalhousie. It took 2 hrs on an Innova (Which role are u playing today?). Taxi service is available just beside the railway station. Fare depends on the vehicle type and the number of pessangers. It's in the range of Rs. 1000/--Rs. 3000/-.

Why: You ask a lot of questions...

Photo # 1 - The Gang

From Left: Daapak, Gautam (Mao-Tse-Tung), James, Anthony (Tony), Sanjukta (Buty), Johney (Tumtum). I was the clicker.

Photo # 2 - A Bird Eye's View of the valley below

This was taken from the Hotel Lawn. I think the bluish tinge is because I set the shutter speed to high. It's not intentional. But whatever, it turned out really beautiful.

Photo # 3 - A close-up of the snow-capped mountain peak

Wished I'd a better camera when I was taking this photo. I like the shadow of the clouds on the white snow.

Photo # 4 - A Natural X-Mas tree

Just put in the decorations and voila, a living X-mas Tree.

Photo # 5 - DaAnthony

I included this photo not so much for the handsome foreground as that of the beautiful background. Because of the bright background, the EV has to be increased to ensure a brighter foreground.

Photo # 6 - Rhodondendron - The Tree Rose

These wild rhodondendrons were found in abundance along the mountain roads. They were a beauty to look at.

Photo # 7 - Khajjiar - Switzerland of India

It is said that there's a team from Switzerland who looks out for places on Earth which looks like Switzerland. And they have planted their flag on Khajjiar, 22 kms from Dalhousie. The place is much more beautiful than this photograph.

Photo # 8 - Hi, It's me

No comments!!!

And Finally, some assorted pics...

With 2 Army personnels

A cloudy sky

Some Church

Future Plans

Oh, Gosh! She's cute...

Johney and the horse

The Gang - Part Duex

Daredevils

Just another egoistical snap

And finally, the girl who missed this all!!!

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Au Revoir,

Bij

St. Valentine’s Day - Reminisces

 Today is Valentine’s Day - a day to celebrate the love you shared with your loved ones. Although you can wish any loved one - parents, siblings, friends, your boss etc - in India, it is mainly used to express your love to your boyfriend or girlfriend. Gifts are given and can range from flowers plucked stealthily from the neighbour’s garden to diamond necklaces worth your two month’s salary. On this day, some get extra courage to propose1, others have contests as to who’ll receive the most V-Day cards/gifts, yet still others yearn longingly and hope for even a scrap of paper hoping someone will acknowledge they exist on this earth. But I’m not going to talk about any of these people. I’m going to talk about someone who has always treated V-Day with caution and a sense of dread - me.

For me, V-Day has always remained elusive. It’s a time where the investment is not worth the return. The thing is when I’d a girlfriend, I’d have started saving my pocket-money from two months back for that special gift on this special day to that special person. Yet, nothing extra-ordinary happened on this day. I didn’t make any new girlfriend, didn’t receive my first kiss, didn’t … ok, let’s leave it at that. And when I didn’t have a girlfriend, it was too embarrassing to say I don’t have anyone to celebrate it with. Let me recap my past V-day experiences.

1983-1995: Imphal - Still a juvenile, where the only awareness of the female species is that they have longer hairs (and cried a lot more, too).

1996: Imphal - Somewhat aware but video games still were a more attractive option than girls.

1997: Imphal - Immensely infatuated with a girl. Vague recollection. Probably spent the whole day daydreaming and thinking up of ways as to how to propose1 to that girl.

1998: Imphal - My first real V-Day. Feigned illness, didn’t go to school and went for a date (with the girl I’d a crush on last year). Nothing happened other than touching her hand.

1999: Imphal - Matric exam just round the corner but that didn’t stopped me from going on a date. Asked for a kiss - refused.

2000: Delhi - Called up long distance to my sweetheart. Spent 200 bucks (quite a lot during those days, I was a student, for God’s sake), not to mention the gift. (Have to check with my ex how much I spent on her, which I’m definitely not going to do).

2001: Delhi - Much similar to previous year. 12th board exam after two weeks.

2002: Bhopal - Now this one was nice. Hmm hmm hmm. I’m not gonna reveal the juicy details here, so forget it.

2003: Delhi - Had a fight just before V-Day. Spent the day hurt at Delhi at my bro’s place. Weather was cold and chilly, suited my mood perfectly.

2004: Imphal - Girlfriend had exam, opposed quite fiercely (and emotionally) to my coming to her place. Went home instead and called her up. Later, I realized she didn’t want me to come because she wanted to spend the day with someone else.

2005: Imphal - Had broken up with the aforementioned girlfriend by now. Thought I was in love with two girls (quite wrongly). Stood up a date with a third girl because some powerful people have got anti-Valentine day sentiments in the city. First time, I let my head ruled over my heart. (Later I came to know she also didn’t come, but that’s not the point).

2006: Bangalore - Had broken up with my new girlfriend a few days before. So, spent this day passably alone (my manager and colleagues don’t count as company). It’s another matter that we patched up a few days after.

2007: Bangalore -No date today, so spending the day writing this blog.

So, as you can see, V-Day didn’t turn out to be very special to me. Most of the special days (first sight, first holding hand, first kiss, etc) happened on non-festive days. Well, I gather that it’s not the day which makes an event special but it’s the event which makes a day special. But still being the rank-sentimentalist that I’m, I still dream of flowers, chocolates, candle-lights, music, sensuous kisses, and a satisfying breakfast the day after with the person I love. I know it’ll come true someday - just hoping I hadn’t turn 50 before it happens.

Cheers and dedicated to all the lovers in this world. Hope you have a special time. Happy Valentine’s day.

Au Revoir,
Bij

1. Propose, in this context, means declaring your love and usually doesn’t involve getting your knees dirty, diamond rings, and committing oneself to a lifelong sentence.

Appraisals ... An euphemism for the pink slip

I got my appraisal result today. How do I feel? Well, let's put it this way. If I was satisfied, I'd be giving treats for the new hike right now and not sitting at office venting out my frustration writing this blog.

Rating-wise, it was as expected-a strong performance but the hike - ha ha ha, a paltry 10%. Not bad, some might say, but they are the people who already earns 10 lpa. And tomorrow is Valentine's day. You can give my organization kudos for playing spoil-sport to romantic moods.

Considering I worked my ass off last year, had a bout of stress, analyzed data in my dreams, and put in all those extra efforts to meet those unbelievable deadlines, I expected at least a decent raise. But no, siree, all these are forgotten when appraisal time comes. And the funny thing is my manager told me (when I said I'm certainly not happy with the raise) that there'll be another appraisal in 6 months for "high performers". Wondering how many ppl bought that, I certainly didn't. Being the ever naive, gullible fresher that I was last year, I believed when they told me not to worry about salary, that I should just concentrate on my work, and I'll be rewarded appropriately. Sure, I'm rewarded - with a joke.

The standard IT industry hike, as calculated by a reputed business magazine, is 15% but I got 10 %. Now I've been thinking, what if all these is a conspiracy of the HR ppl and the Finance ppl to lay people off? Hmmm, quite possible. Since, this way, it won't come in the news but it will be all over the news if they announced they are going to lay off 1000 ppl. Cos right now, I certainly want to pack my bag and look elsewhere and I bet many ppl are feeling the same. It's like a nice way of saying, "thanks for earning $100000 for us, now just f*** off!!!" - an euphemism for a pink slip.

But whatever, I see that my days in this organization are numbered. I've about 25 days of leaves left, so it means about 25 + 30 days more. I cannot lower my standards to meet their 10%, after all. (Hey, this is a nice line to tell the HR in my exit interview.)

I hope you have a better appraisal result. It'll make me believe in humanity and just rewards.

Till next time,
Bij

All good things come back again...

Hello, hello, hello... Is there anybody out there?

I'm back from a sabbatical of nearly one year... I intend to blog regularly now. Since I know I suck at keeping diaries, this blog will serve as an outlet for my feelings. Don't worry, I won't write about what I had for dinner, et al (punch intended). I'll keep it witty and honest. So anybody out there, just drop a comment. I'll write as long as someone listens to me...

Cheers,
Bij