A new beginning, but somewhere else..

I was reading a recent post by Julie Schwietert, of Matador Network/MatadorU and realized why I was not updating this blog frequent enough – I was not enjoying writing here. And the reason was, I had lost direction in terms of what I wanted to write and why I wanted to write.

I sorted myself out a bit this weekend, and have come up with a new blog:

I drink my tea sweet

Hopefully, I shall be writing more frequently there, and more importantly, enjoy writing there..

So, in case you did read my blog regularly (I doubt that!), please go ahead and update the link in your rss feed and blogrolls!

 

Wednesday Wanderings: Manchester

'Theater of Dreams' : Home of Manchester United FC - Old Trafford, Manchester

Staring at my laptop..

I stared hard at my laptop. I had checked Gmail. Twice. I had checked Facebook. Multiple clicks on home button. Scrolled across all the open tabs and windows. Checked Gmail and Facebook again. Looked to the side. Looked to the other side. Stared back at the laptop.

Almost dragging my finger, pressed Ctrl+T to open a new tab. Nothing happened. Got reminded, this was a new office laptop, where I am forced to work with Internet Explorer. Even more slowly, I pressed Ctrl+N – A new window. Somehow, remembered the URL and went to the webpage – one I hadn’t visited for ages. Definitely at least  a couple of months.

At one corner, the login name and password option showed up. Next to it, in small blue letter, ‘Forgot your password?’ stared back at me. Jolted back, I remembered – I didn’t even remember the login name.

“Jog your memory”
“Think hard, this is just the first step, next you’ll have to think about password”

A couple of hours, a few washed dishes, one full washing machine cycle and a short nap later, the problem was finally resolved.

As the new window opened, a familiar screen opened. I closed my eyes, leaned back into the sofa, and took in a deep breath.

As I slowly opened my eyes, ignoring the shrill sounds from TV, beeps from microwave, and the deep grizzly sounds from the washing machine, I purposely moved forward my mouse cursor and clicked on the small button which said ‘New Post’.

Wednesday Wanderings: Madhugiri

History has always fascinated me. In particular, forts. The symbols of royalty and power. Of huge kingdoms and powerful armies.

Madhugiri is the largest monolith in Asia (and 2nd largest in the world). And on its peak is nestled a small fort built by the Vijaynagar dynasty. A couple of weeks ago I went on a trek to reach the peak of Madhugiri hill. On its way, I saw many fort walls, drainage structures and minarets. Below is the photograph of a a majestic structure which I am guessing was a watchtower of the fort – one of the strategic points of any fort – the first place from which attacking armies can be spotted and the fort defenses be put on alert.

Madhugiri, Karnataka, India

Wednesday Wanderings: Kargil, Kashmir

It’s weird how ‘real life’ – the political issues, the wars and the pain leaves its impact on us and the places we inhabit/visit.

India was involved in an armed conflict with Pakistan in the summer of 1999. This conflict, known as Kargil War, or Operation Vijay, took place in the Kargil, Dras and Batalik regions of Kashmir along the Line of Control (LoC).

As I was traveling through Kashmir this year en route to Ladakh, I cam across many remnants of the war. One of these was a wall constructed on a short stretch of the national highway in Dras sector. The highway is very crucial for supporting the movement of supplies and forces, and if any part of the highway was taken over, the rest of Kashmir and entire Ladakh region would have been cut off from the rest of the country. This wall, very close to the famous ‘Tiger’ Hill, was constructed during Operation Vijay to protect this passing trucks from constant shelling coming in from the hill tops.

Dras, Kashmir