Hello! This is bad for us!

youtube.com/watch?v=IdmnxcClEMc

Raid De Himalaya 2007

The Raid is back this year in it's 8th run.

-Looks like we are going to Srinagar
-Reliability is now called Adventure Trail
-Registratiom is on, Early Birds get to pay only 25,000 if register before 30th may
-This year will definitely see stronger participation
-Adventure trail gets 6/10 for diffilculty, Xtreme get a 9!

Itenerary looks like this
6th October 2007

Leg 1 Shimla – Manali

7th October 2007

Leg 2 Manali – Kaza - Tabo

8th October 2007

Leg 3 Tabo - Darcha - Pang

9th October 2007

Leg 4 Pang - Leh

10th October 2007

Leg 5 Leh - Keylong

11th October 2007

Leg 6 Keylong - Patni Top

12th October 2007

Leg 7 Patni Top - Srinagar

13th October 2007

Prize Distribution after the final Scrutineering and the conclusion of the Raid.

So Buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, Cuz Kansas is goin bye bye!

Calm Under the Waves

Not that this blog enjoys much readership , but I realized I sent some 79 new and 27 returning Visitors back disappointed since I posted last.

I have just been traveling, and had some other things on my mind, so didn't find the time to post. And then I read this article on a website that said that most blogs today are dying(ghost blogs)and I have decided not to join that list.

The mid twenties seem to be the toughest age for youngsters in India as the support system that existed back in College/Home runs out and the move into a so called next stage is finally taking shape. This can be a life changing event for this when the word responsible finally starts making sense, and the wait for life to begin is revealed as a hoax! All I can say is that its a crazy experience and can be humbling at times, yet fun throughout. Although this blog tends to stay away from being autobiographical, we do see the entire world through our own eyes and to call everything completely fiction or descriptive is again subjective.

Coming back to the main reason why I wanted to post this ramble, I wanted to share a few things I read some time back:

From Zorba the Greek:

Throughout my life my greatest benefactors have been my dreams and my travels.
I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.

Henry James:
Be someone on whom nothing is lost.

These three have left a deep impression on me. I think on order to find your Nirvana ( or your own Nirvana) or whatever we seek as a manifestation of N: Money, Power, travel, Respect, love, blaah.. The answer to finding them lies in among other things, traveling. I think in order to get comfortable you need to get uncomfortable.
And also what I always preached and now seek to practice, the action is the Juice!


Ramblings on a Friday after a slightly scarce week, work wise that is.

So this marks the beginning of a hopefully enriching journey, which as much as possible will actively live through and hopefully blog about!

Reproduced from ET

Mobility has an aspirational swing in India : Partha Sinha

AT THE early stage of my working career I used to work with a foreign bank that had a very pronounced recruitment hierarchy. Fresh MBAs were clearly divided between a brahminical and non-brahminical order based on which management institutes they came from. But the most fascinating aspect of that caste system was that these two categories were popularly known inside the bank as the 'mobile' and the 'non-mobile' category. Needless to say the mobile people were from the brahminical institutes. Mobility in India had traditionally been bestowed with a coveted status and was intrinsically linked to material well-being. Contrary to popular belief that Indians are a 'rooted' lot; higher esteem has always been accorded to mobility. From the recurring Bollywood theme of the village boy moving to big town and changing his life almost as a rule, to the entire phenomenon called 'brain-drain' or the obsessions of certain communities to migrate to the UK or Canada the potent power of mobility can be witnessed in many aspects of the Indian life. If we try to understand the codes of mobility in more details, we will find that it's intrinsically linked to the social structure of India. Our society is marked by a linear hierarchy and that invariably produces a desire to move up the hierarchy ladder. This desire is the driving force of mobility. In India, there's nothing called spatial mobility our mobility is fundamentally social mobility. Nobody wants to move from North Delhi to South Delhi for geographical reasons. The dream movement of most starry-eyed management trainees from Malad to Malabar Hill in Mumbai is not rooted in travelling conven ience. One may argue that geographies have represented social strata in almost all societies across the globe, but in India the act of mobility itself ends up determining social order. One of the primary examples of the triumph of social mobility over physical mobility is the way cars are seen in India. Cars are definitely not a mode of travelling between two points. In most cases, in urban India, walking will possibly be a faster and better method to reach a destination than a car. Cars in India represent social destinations. Even if it is difficult to drive a larger vehicle in the congested roads of Mumbai, Bangalore or Delhi everyone invariably wants a bigger car. It's almost a sacrilege for the junior to have a bigger car than his boss. Even if car marketers try to segment the market accord ing to different need types it invariably falls into this social laddering. 4X4 off-roaders and sedans may appeal to different needs and mindsets, according to car marketing convention, but here they are compared and clubbed to form different strata of social destinations. Another interesting phenomenon around mobility is the ever-growing popularity of mobile phones and it's impact on the society. Like most modern societies, Indians are also forced to lead lives characterised by discrepancies between spatial and social distances. On one hand they have to tolerate spatial proximity with people very distant from them thanks to living in crowded cities, moving in crowded areas or using public transport. On the other hand, they have to accept spatial distance from the people who they feel close to. The significance of mobile phone lies in empowering them to engage in communication that frees them from the constraint of physical proximity and spatial mobility at the same time. When an anglicised executive starts using a mobile phone to connect with his buddies while waiting at a doctor's chamber, he is not only moving closer to the people he relates to, but most importantly moving away from the 'non-corporate types' who are waiting along with him in the same chamber. Mobile phones in India have helped create social proximity and distances. Another glaring example of that is the way mobile phones are being embraced by a class that has never heard a dial tone before. The mobile phone is giving them the freedom to get included. A plumber today doesn't need to give the address of his hutment. He uses his mobile number as his address. This allows him to transcend the psychological barriers that would have come with his address. Mobility itself allows the plumber to deny social exclusion. A stable dwelling place was the pre-requisite for creating social organizations. And that's why people had an emotional attachment to their 'own' house. It created the anchor point that started defining who they are. But in the life of the urban nomads today, this stability comes from social standings rather than the stability of the dwelling places. They buy a house today with the definitive plan to move out of it in a few years. The center of social organisation today is a moving point and thus mobility is a coveted virtue. But is this mobility akin to running fast to stay at the same place? Maybe true, may be not but one thing is true for sure: The nation is on the move.

Career Manifesto

ExecPundit's version, and I loved this:

The Career Manifesto

1. Unless you’re working in a coal mine, an emergency ward, or their equivalent, spare us the sad stories about your tough job. The biggest risk most of us face in the course of a day is a paper cut.

2. Yes, your boss is an idiot at times. So what? (Do you think your associates sit around and marvel at your deep thoughts?) If you cannot give your boss basic loyalty, either report the weasel to the proper authorities or be gone.

3. You are paid to take meaningful actions, not superficial ones. Don’t brag about that memo you sent out or how hard you work. Tell us what you achieved.

4. Although your title may be the same, the job that you were hired to do three years ago is probably not the job you have now. When you are just coasting and not thinking several steps ahead of your responsibilities, you are in dinosaur territory and a meteor is coming.

5. If you suspect that you’re working in a madhouse, you probably are. Even sociopaths have jobs. Don’t delude yourself by thinking you’ll change what the organization regards as a “turkey farm.” Flee.

6. Your technical skills may impress the other geeks, but if you can’t get along with your co-workers, you’re a litigation breeder. Don’t be surprised if management regards you as an expensive risk.

7. If you have a problem with co-workers, have the guts to tell them, preferably in words of one syllable.

8. Don’t believe what the organization says it does. Its practices are its real policies. Study what is rewarded and what is punished and you’ll have a better clue as to what’s going on.

9. Don’t expect to be perfect. Focus on doing right instead of being right. It will simplify the world enormously.

10.If you plan on showing them what you’re capable of only after you get promoted, you need to reverse your thinking.

From Gapin Void

As technologists, we have two choices:

One is to provide the customer a better experience, the freedom to select what he wants, a differentiation based on service quality against a backdrop of abundance.

The second is to create artificial scarcities around the things that are abundant, create new inconveniences for the customer, new lock-ins, new irritants. Irritants like Region Coding on DVDs. Lock-ins like we see in digital music.

For the last thirty years, too many of us in IT have focussed on creating these artificial scarcities, often without even knowing it. First we paid to bury the data in vendor stacks, then we paid to try and dig it out. We've been doing this for years. And we're in danger of doing it again.

Time for a change.

Time to focus on ways of delivering service where the customer wants, when the customer wants, how the customer wants. Time to focus on open platforms, open protocols, open software, open ways of doing business.

That's what the economics of abundance is really about. Making money because of what you do, and not with what you do. Having customers who stay with you because they want to, not because they have to.

Just another day at work

Caught these guys helping keep C Naidu's Cyberabad Squeaky Clean. Thats the glass walls of "Cyber Gateway". The walls provide a nice view of the clouds and the odd plane flying by, Nice!:)

World Usability Day & Social Networks

SUMMARY:
Social Networks: Evolution and Impact On Society
Tags: Social Networks, orkut, web 2.0, social impact of media


Vox Populi today: Don't Make Me Think! and it applies to everything. Starting tomorrow, I am going to start putting pictures of designs that I hate. That is to celebrate Usability Day!(You can send me your pet peeves as well)

And about social networks, a question was raised about blogging/orkut/ with reference to whether they are a fad/ and what is the impact on society/culture. As much as I think I don't belong to the why talk about this topic brigade , I still keyed my thoughts and here's part one:
Blogging is just one of the varied aspects of social computing:

Before we conclude whether it’ a hype or a change agent; we must try and understand what lead to it, what’s happening today and hence where it might go. Since it’s very hard to predict where things go, but when you look at them in retrospect, they seem so obvoius

A Brief History of the Phenomena: (I promise its brief)

Cheap Technology available to everyone, so youngsters used it to their advantage and elderly to theirs. Think Bit Torrent, Skype, Kazaa and SMS, MMS, Chat, XML/RSS.

What does the trend indicate: Networks erode institutional power.

Why: People love right to freedom, are more independent and less trusting. These technologies/platforms just fuelled that.

Now what happened:

Explosion of social networks like:

Orkut/my Space/friendster/Linkedin

RSS- I want the Internet my way:
Yahoo/FeedBurner/Bloglines

My Free Open Source Software
OPen Office/MySQL

Search Engines and now my own search engines
Yahoo, Google>>Rollyo

User Reviewed portals
Cnet/Tripadvisor

My Music/Files free
Kazaa/emule/Gnutella

C2c Commerce
eBay/Craigslist/ubid

Comparison Shopping
Froogle/Shopzilla

POdcasts
Odeo/Juice

Wikis/Collaboration Software
Jotspot/Basecamp

Tagging
Flickr/digg/delicious

Now coming to the sub topic of Blogs, Here’s a fact: There are about 59.5 Million Blogs today that they are being tracked by technorati. So whether it’s a phenomenon or a passing fad remains to be seem. But if you look at he growth of Blogs, it’s certainly reached a plateau-ed growth as seen here http://google.com/trends?q=blogs.

Blogging has given everyone a right to express there thoughts on whatever they feel like, from recipes to travelogues.

Companies that have used this concept, have taken the first mover advantage, now every company including Google has a web log that talks to its consumers in a seemingly informal way. Every newspaper website has weblogs, every job site has weblogs, every technology has a weblog, almost every corporate has a web log. So the face of blogging has changed from being perceived as rebellious to now a contributor to the society.

It’s certainly going to stabilize, like a lot of other phenomenon, but what amazes me is that it took just a decade from when usenet appeared to when this debate started. That in itself speaks about how entrenched this has become in our society, especially in certain quartets, because of it were a passing phenomenon, it would have eroded by now.

Its certainly speaks about what our world wants, a right to basic freedom of thought, speech and experession!

But are most blogs really monologues? Will explore in part two, the impact on society and whether they are leading to more complex human behaviors.

Also, You feel iam left out something, please leave your feedback.

Departed and Open Season

The madness of Scorsese and the magic of Pixar!

Two movies in two days is not so much, but these are perhaps the best movies I have
seen this year.

Departed is all about cursing, and just to mention what my esteemed friend remarked" There's only two languages in which cursing soundS effective, and he has used both(english and panjabi)". And it's got great plot, amazing storytelling, a splendid cast, the Janus Jack Nicholson, Mark Whalburg, Matt Damon and should have been excluded Leo Caprio. Vera Farmiga Impresses too.

Open Season(In 3-D, which was a nice surprise) is just phenomenal graphics rendering. I mean I have seen tons of animation, but the combined effect of three dimensional projection and cutting edge animation was surreal!

Kudos to Hollywood! Some movies just, make sense.


Oh and I found a list of all makes by Martin Scorsese.

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? • It's Not Just You, Murray! • The Big Shave • Who's That Knocking at My Door • Street Scenes • Boxcar Bertha • Mean Streets • Italianamerican • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Taxi Driver • New York, New York • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince • The Last Waltz • Raging Bull • The King of Comedy • After Hours • The Color of Money • The Last Temptation of Christ • New York Stories • Goodfellas • Cape Fear • The Age of Innocence • Casino • Kundun • My Voyage to Italy • Bringing Out the Dead • Gangs of New York • The Aviator • No Direction Home • The Departed

Invictus

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance 5
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade, 10
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate: 15
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903

And coming to the point of the post, Raid it seems has got some decent media attention with a four page article in the November issue of autocar and a half an hour capsule on cnn ibn. Here's the Link to the videos, will try and scan and put the articles here for your reading pleasure.

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/24627/raiddehimalayas-tests-driving-skills.html

Note: The video is in three parts, so be careful while navigating.(Requires flash)

Please try this at Home!!!

Tiff needle shows how to lay more rubber on the road than Malaysia's annual supply.

Happy Riding.

Presenting : Burn More Rubber 101

Most relevant to us: Front Wheel Drives



Z3M Roadster Rear Wheel techniques



4 Wheel Drive, gets Even better-1




4 Wheel Drive, gets Even better-2

Got an Idea: Get Up And Go

For all the people I read , no one inspires Like Scott Adams.

Wha!!! Scott Adams, you would exclaim. But read this piece and get inspired.

I usually would restrain from doling out inspiritaional stuff, this is not a Guru or geek blog(pun intended), but couldnt resist this gyaan wartaan exercise. Catch the link below:

In over My Head

Here's an attemt to make the post look more interesting



Dilberts Financial planner!

-Make a will
-Pay off your credit cards
-Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
-Fund your 401k to the maximum
-Fund your IRA to the maximum
-Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
-Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
-Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement
-If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio


So if you have a idea, go for it, worst case it wont work. but it would be fun trying to make it work, wont it?

I lost my BIG IDEA to an advertising firm :I

Raid De Himalaya 2006

Hi Folks,

Ive uploaded the pics on flickr.

Heres the link: flickr.com/photos/amansandhu

Please come back and leave a comment. Also, was hoping to post somethin about my experiences, but realise the post went way too long.

Its under the guillotine and will publish it when I am happy with it.

In the meantime, enjoy the pics, and from what i have heard, people seem to be liking them(they are just too nice:)).

The Nawabi Pursuits

The thing I love and hate about our lifestyle in Bharat is the total disregard for time.
Take for example, my current road trip .

Well as it goes, it was supposed to start yesterday, that is saturday early morning, but thanks to the changing weather, some colds, unavailable and delayed spares, a typical lack of organizational trait and also, a troublesome engine which coughs up a complaint at its whim(road worthy or raid worthy:P), and other inexplicable reasons, we stand delayed by a day and a half.

To put things into better perspective, I am typing this on sunday at 1:30PM and I am still home :D.

This is turning into a road trip which I made without knowing the route I was taking, how long would it take, how much fuel would we burn, and when would we hit home turf: Simla/Chandigarh.

Will we cover the distance in two and a half day, three days, three and a half days... well my guess is as good as anyone else's.

Personally, being the navigator in the team, I should take it a little more personally since i m supposed to be the brains behind this maths, but this is different.

And then again, the silver lining here is that this is the most unplanned and uncertain I have ever felt, and I m enjoying every moment of this insane feeling of losing control.

Maybe all trips should begin once you hit the road!



P.S. "Grow Up Aman! !"

Evil Grin

D Day

Well the preparations are in full swing and I am getting ready for the road trip of my life,

in the Next two weeks I'm planning to travel 6000 kilometers across India, 4000 out of those would be by road and the rest by air.
reality check: Earths circumference is 40000 kilometers. its definitely the craziest thing I have ever attempted to do.

For the readers of this blog here is a summary of the itenerary:(It's still sketchy)


Sep 23

Hyderabad Shimla road trip

Sep 28 Scrutiny begins

Sep 30 Raid Begins

Oct 7 Raid Ends

Oct 9 Hopefully back to work and normal life

Distance 2000kms(Depending on the highways taken about 2000)

Estimated time: 3 days(Again, I cant really say)

Here's a map that sheds some light on the highways in India, a long ignored topic.

I would love to take the road west(we always wanna take the highway westwards innit) to End day one in Daman And Diu.

Day two would Destination Udaipur and Day three Destination Chandigarh/Shimla.


However to reflect the sanity in us and to make good time, and under the pressure from some "friendly advice", we might(and the probability of this happening is more) make a saner trip down the middle of India to reach Delhi.(See map)

This would still be a crazy trip, nonetheless.

Will keep the story of my survival through the centre of India as a topic for my next post.


Please excuse the lack of exciting language in the post. Its been written in a hurry and does not reflect the emotions in their true form, or so I would say.

The long tail

Heard about the book? Here's a Nice video:)

Wake Up Sleepy Head

Things to do to keep from getting bored

Read subjects you are least close to: cognitive psychology, javascript,
Genres of Photography: (my favorite: lomography)
Aesthetics ergonomics
Common Rail Diesels

Play a sport

Watch constructive tv

Go for a jog

Exercise-hit the gym

Swim

Learn a language

Larn to play the guitar

Walk

Learn to Empathize

Learn to be charming

Participate in raid de himalaya

Dun have the dough try mtb himachal(tour de himachal)

Own a bullet, you can try and participate in the royal enfield trip to leh, and hopefully get featured on ndtv as well

Wanna be good at stocks, play moneybhai, real stocks with fake mone

CrossWords

Su Do ku

Martial arts classes, tai chi, taibo

Hit the kitchen, try a new cuisine: heard about googling leftovers in the fridge for a new recipe?

Learn to red 12 digit bar codes and ISBN nos

Lucid dreams

Astral projections

Out Of Body experiences

Altered state of consciousness

Order your synklini

ESP

Travel with a partner, you will know urself better, so will your partner. Also, your tolerance will surely increase

Take a hike, I mean a hike across a track

Learn to DJ if you think you have a sense of music

Prepare for CAT

Take your GRE/GMAT

Prepare and take the Mensa Test

Really Bored: how about the IAS

Really really bored: keep reading this blog :P

I am kidding about the last one, Anyways I am open to suggestions on how readers spend their time?

Disclaimer:(This is in no way a complete list, and is not an endorsement fo what i may do , plan to do or may be doing)

Raid De Himalaya 2006

Are you bored with the everyday routine?

* Is skydiving over shark-infested waters just a drop in the ocean?

* Does going backwards, on one leg, down a manali ski run leave you cold?

* Has rishikesh white water raftering begun to seem just a bit wet?

* Are you so far "out there" that you're practically back inside again?

Then maybe you should look at Raid!

Update 1.

It’s exactly one month to go for the raid. Preparations are at full swing. I intend to give you a weekly update on the preparations going towards the raid, and then, will come back and try and update the readers of the blog on the excitement, the perils, the expected and the unexpected, in short the story of my survival.

To start with here's my version of the background on what the Raid is.

Well for the name, as is clearly evident, it’s derived from french for the marathon event OF the Himalaya.

The Himalayas happen to have the highest motor-able roads and passes in the world. And raid is what you get when you take that terrain, that altitude, that weather and make a rally out of it. And that too at the lag end of "good" weather, just when the winter is setting in.

OK, enough ranting about on the irrelevant stuff: Here's the interesting trivia:

· 7 Days of driving in the most inhospitable climes, terrain, conditions

· 2100 Kilometres, so that's approximately 300 kilometres of riding in one day(Its actually around 400 on some days)

· 10 hrs of driving on a good day and 12 on a rough day(Average speeds are never above 40kmph on the raid)

· Approximately 25000 rupees worth of diesel burnt in 7 Days

· Engines idle all night long to avoid cold starts

· Rarefied air causes mileage to drop to half of what you get under normal driving conditions

· You need to fight altitude sickness, and hope your body acclimatises quickly to the altitude(as high as Tanglang La at 17 540 ft, highest pt in rally)

· No habitation for hundreds of kilometres at length

· Temperatures dipping to -25 degrees celcuis at night and -5 in the day

· X treme version participants zipping past you

Raid Trivia:

http://www.bcmtouring.com/articles/raid-de-himalaya/trivia.html

Brief history

http://www.bcmtouring.com/articles/raid-de-himalaya/history.html

A Nice Video Of Bikers going down from TangLang La

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feRXL7t4r-Q

Brief Description of the Raid

(As taken from the official site, its last year's tracks which will definitely change this year so to be taken with a pinch of salt)

28th and 29th September 2006
Pre Event Scrutiny

All vehicles will be inspected for conformity to International Standards of Safety and Preparation as laid down by the FiA. Owing to a large expected entry list this process has been allotted two days to complete, considering the great attention to detail that is required. Technical and Paperwork Scrutiny will be held at Motoworld, Navbahar,Shimla 171002.

30th September 2006
Leg 1 Shimla – Manali

An early start at 0600 hrs will take the rally from Shimla via Baldian to Narel. This a rough gravel stage and though short will set the mood for the days ahead. The second stage is via Narkanda, Bagi, Sungri to Bhadrash. This will be a tarmac / gravel run and fast. The third and fourth stages from Luhri to Kandagai will be half tarmac- half gravel. Though short and fast they are both uphill and relatively easier. From there a long transport via Jalori pass to Kullu and Manali will follow.

Another description:

The Raid flags off from Shimla and makes its way through the classic Himalayan country of tall cedar forests. Rushing through Baggi and Khadrala it finally wends its way up the steep Jalori road to the first of the Raid’s many passes – the Jalori Jot. Then down to Shoja, the whine of engines and smell of scorching rubber cutting through the crisp October mountain air. If climbing uphill to Jalori takes its toll on the engines, then downhill towards Kullu kills the brakes and clutchplates!! The Raid winds up for the day at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Manali.

The Raid will halt at Manali for the night after a run of about 400 kms.

1st October 2006
Leg 2 Manali – Kaza

The 250 kms “Himalayan Experience” will start on this day. The raid will be flagged off by 0700 hrs for Kaza. From Gramphoo a 104 kms dirt stage will take the raid via Losar to Pangmo.

The last 30 kilometres will be the smoothest tarmac run. From there to Kaza will be a short transport.

The night halt will be Kaza.

Another description:

From Manali up to the Rohtang Pass at 13,000 ft, the Raid enters Spiti Valley on the second day’s run. It races along the roughest of roads (or what pass for roads) along the swift, unforgiving waters of th

e Chandrabhaga river, via Gramphoo, Chhatru, over the Kunzum Pass and Losar, until finally sighting the night halt -- Kaza. At the end of the day the overall images that crowd every driver or rider’s tired mind are those of boulders, boulders and yet more boulders!

2nd October 2006
Leg 3 Kaza – Komik - Dhankar - Pin - Kaza

This Leg is the "Rest Leg" for the Raid but a "Cliff Hanger" nevertheless.

Kaza to Thangyud Gompa at Komik will be the first stage. Uphill and thro

ugh a heart stopping gorge to a plateau at Langze the gravel stage will be fast and entertaining. The vistas of the real Himalayas c

an be enjoyed as can the tea at the Gompa, where a regroup is planned since the transport to Lingti is back via the same road.

Lingti to the Dhankar monastery is an uphill gravel stage. Fast and replete with hairpin bends after long straights! Enjoy. The other half of this stage down to Sichiling is pure tarmac with short straights into hellish hairpins. Enjoy this too. If not, then the fact that "there are parapets" should offer some consolation!

Once is not enough. This stage will be done twice to give competitors a chance to perfect their maneuvers!

The last stage will be from Lidang to Demul. Another dead end road will result in a wait for the last car. If nothing else this will be a character building exercise and patience will be the learned reward. This stage is all gravel, frightfully steep and with a cliff drop that will make Stallone quake!

Fortunately the rally will only race in the uphill mode! Be careful on the recce and the race day here.
Survivors will return to Kaza for the night.

Another description:

This Leg is the "Rest Leg" for the Raid but a "Cliff Hanger" nevertheless.

Kaza to Thangyud Gompa at Komik will be the first stage. Uphill and through a heart stopping gorge to a plateau at Langze the gravel stage will be fast and entertaining. The vistas of the real Himalayas can be enjoyed as can the tea at the Gompa, where a regroup is planned since the transport to Lingti is back via the same road.Lingti to the Dhankar monastery is an uphill gravel stage. Fast and replete with hairpin bends after long straights! Enjoy. The other half of this stage down to Sichiling is pure tarmac with short straights into hellish hairpins. Enjoy this too. If not, then the fact that "there are parapets" should offer some consolation! Once is not enough. This stage will be done twice to give competitors a chance to perfect their maneuvers!

3rd October 2006

Leg 4 Kaza - Darcha - Patseo

The pressure will steadily increase both on the resources of the participants and their vehicles from this Leg onwards. 200 kms of competitive stage driving, the real Hima

layas and 2 major passes await them.

The first stage will be the return trip on the same 150 kms from Kaza to Gramphoo. From Gramphoo the Raid will head to Darcha for a second competitive stage. This will run from Darcha to Patseo - 18 kms.

Instead of the usual grind to Pang for the ritual exorcism of oxygen there will be a quick regroup at Sarchu and a third competitive back to Patseo for the night halt !

Another description:
This Leg is the "Rest Leg" for the Raid but a "Cliff Hanger" nevertheless.

The Raid sets its sights on Ladakh. The real Himalaya starts now. There is little wonder that prayer flags flutter incessantly at every high pass for they whisper silently

to the gods. Whether it is the great panoramic expanse of the Morey Plain or Baralacha La, Lachhulung La or any othe pass, each crossing means you are one step closer to the great unknown. The winds are icy and the mountains silent as you focus only on your destination – the Indian Army outpost at Pang. When you get there you can only begin to appreciate what our jawans face everyday at Siachen, for Pang is just an acclimatization point.

4th October 2006
Leg 5 Patseo - Sarchu - Pang- Leh

A long day ahead with 4 stages. Patseo to Nakee la will be the first stage of the day. All tarmac it should be both entertaining and very fast. Debring to rumtse will be Stage 2. Over the Tanglang La at 17 540 ft this will be the highest point on the rally! The night halt will be at Leh.

5th October 2006
Leg 6 Leh - Mugleb – Leh

6th October 200
Leg 7 Leh - Manali

7th October 2006

Prize Distribution after the final Scrutineering and the conclusion of the Raid at HMI Manali.

So people as you can see, with the conditions survival is a challenge. Not to mention the wish that your vehicle takes the brutal assault!

Your wishes needed )

Am I going to die of cancer-Hypochondria or Fact

Swollen Uvula?


You probably had too much to drink last night.

Have you heard the terms"uvulitis", "uvular edema", or "Quincke's disease of the uvula".

Till this morning even I had not. But for the readers of this blog and whoever may reach here in the future, please do not panick if you wake up with a swollen ovula.

For people who are wondering what the ovula is, its the piece of tissue that hangs down at the end of your mouth. See pic:

Also more about the swollen uvula here.(Possibly the internet's best resource on swollen uvula -a blog with a post in 2005 and about 600 comments from poeple searching for what a swollen uvula is)

I woke up a swollen Uvula this morning and trust me its the worst feeling, because you feel like there is something in your throat that you wanna throw out but it just sticks there.
According to a wiki, it is caused either by 1) dehydration (from arid weather and/or alcohol); 2) excessive smoking or other inhaled irratants; 3) snoring; 4) allergic reaction; or 5) a viral or bacterial infection.

Well for me a couple of things might have worked in tandem. I think lack of sleep caused snoring and coming from a humid clime while I was travelling last week may have caused some bacterial infection.

The usual culprit although invariably is dehydration(usually from excessive alcohol).

Had I known about this condition I would have done what is suggested that is :

Drink tons of fluids.
Also suggested is gargling and resting. but it might lead you to cancer, I duuno f thats true but maybe I am hypochondriac.

But I read about this 5 hours after I started searching, basically for two reasons, I didnt know what this part of my body was called and what condition was I suffering from?


From the Internet abt evolution of the Uvula:

Our conclusion is that the uvula is possibly an accessory organ of speech, and may be another marker of human evolution that differentiates man from other mammals.

Interesting links organised

Wikipedia Page

Neillobriens post-Post on blog with tons of comments

The Uvula mystery-Medical Definition

The riddle of the uvula



PS: There are tons of crazy people on the planet

And after 10 hours its still there...

Aman Sandhu Web 2.0

Web 2.0 seems to have been the buzzword for a while and i found this cool site that lets you create your own neat looking web2.0 logo, beta and all.

Couldn't help puttin' it here :)