Traveling in continental

Off late, blue with golden has been a very lucky combination for me (not just me though). I just love the color. Somehow any good cobalt or darker blue piece of cloth has to come with golden in it unless it is formal mens shirts! Though yellows are even substituted at times.

Anyway, such was my excitement on my trip to Cincinnati which was by continental airways( The airways with the blue with golden tail). Preparations had started one day before and when Dr B finally approved my work and said have a great trip, it was like the final seal for happiness.
Tensed till the last moment that my neighbor who was supposed to drop me till easterwood airport. Plane was scheduled at 11:25 and I left for easterwood at 10:45. I had started chanting gods names. This is one thing I hate afterwards. I always remember god when I am tensed. But never otherwise. But yes, I don't forget to thank them also. (God for me will always be them, never a he, may be a she).
Enough of digressing from the topic, after a hurried check in and a momentary mood off as I was searched and not the amru next in line, I got into the plane. I was looking at my ticket for the seat number when the stewardess came and told me, take any seat you like! The plane was a 37 seater. It was much smaller than even some buses. 2+1 was the seating arrangement. I got reminded of my Mangalore-Bangalore travels where traveling in a 2+1 bus was a luxury. The seats were much worse than the ideal/sugama buses , I sat in one with 1 seat only. Suddenly the stewardess announces, sorry for the delay, we are waiting for 2 more passengers to catch up who have just checked in. I started laughing there! It was like those private buses where the conductor waited for more passengers raising the tempers of the fellow passengers.
Anyway, finally the plane started moving and so did I started peeping form the window. It was a cloudy and rainy day, so I knew I wont see much of it. But as the plane took off, the view was breathtaking! The best part was that each house of college station seen had a personal pool. The bright blue spots in the green and brown landscape were looking like sapphires thrown around.
Soon we crossed the clouds and all was vapours all around, top, bottom. But soon we went above the clouds and now there was clear sky above and dense clouds beneath. I had just begun wondering about meeting one of the gods floating across the sky , high chances of meeting up narad muni who travels the most, the pilot announced our descent. It was funny as it had been just 15 minutes we had been airborne. Again the same landscape with the dazzling blue pools soothed my eyes.
Our plane didn't even get any terminal to land and we landed in the middle of the airport grounds. A bus came to leave us to terminals. And as we had to land in the middle, we were given those stairs we see VIP's landing from. This was much smaller and much shabbier than any of those, but I could barely resist the temptations for waving a hand at the non existent crowd.

Well this now abruptly ends as there is nothing more to write after this apart form the fact that the stewardess on the IAH-CVG flight was more interested in talking to fellow passengers than checking if the seat belts are tied and the full airplane crew highlighting the well known fact that air travel is the safest mode of transport, may be even safer than sitting at home.

Koo Jhik Jhik

Indian Railways is an experience in itself. That can be understood from people liking it even though the only travel they made is as small as Mumbai-Pune or Bangalore Mysore!
I am proud of the fact that I have travelled most of the sectors except the North east Frontier and Mumbai-Delhi track! ( But that too i travelled form Ahmedabad to Abu Road) . The best track of course was of Konkan Railway. It s scenic beauty even puts hogwarts express to shame!
But my best experiences and most travelled route is Nagpur-Howrah. And it was all 4 of us (Mom,dad, me n bro) together! Our last meeting together has been exactly 1 year back, second week of july,2005.
Ok enough of it, lets start off! Timeline - Around Summer of 1990
5 pm. All packed up. But dad has not yet come from the office! No phones to contact him . Me jumping with tension. Finally he comes at 5:15 and the last minute packing starts. We are going to Kolkata - our Mamabari in beleghata n own house in barasat. Heera Sweets special kalakand is packed though sweets are anyday better in Calcutta. Rishi Autowala is supposed to come at 6:00 pm! But it is 6:15 pm and yet no sign of him. All the neighbours have come down to bid us good bye. Shanta kakima, Latika Kakima, shondhya kakima, rinki, babuji, mana, bonty didi all have come but no sign of autowala! Fnally he comes at 6:30 and gets a scolding form everybody above! We start off amidst all the bbyes. As soon as we are out of sight of those people, maa starts wondering, gas to off kiya naa, latch theek se lagaya naa. Me on maa's lap but wanting to go to dad's. But he is too tired after hectic day in office! But finally bends to the continuous pestering and takes me. Rishi the autowala talks occasionaly and suddenly the auto makes sounds and rishi says we have to get petrol. Again tension, kitna late karega. Maa telling dad in hushed tone, agli baar se isko nahi bulayenge (but obviosuly same story next year too).
Finally around 7:15 we reach station. Train will come only at 8:05 pm. We all go to the wheeler bookstall. Mom buys a womans magazine, Dad gets an India today. I eye for The costlier ones, chacha chaudhary Digests which are 20Rs while noraml chacha chaudharies are just 5 rs. But father presuades me to look for something else. Finally happy with a 5 rs champak, i walk back. Bro obviously has to do something elderly. He eyes for sportstar and gets it.
We eagerly wait for announcements. And finally it comes.

Pravasani Krupya Lakhshyazave, gaadi no. Don aath Paanch Nau
Mumbai Howrah geetanjali express platform kramank ek var yet aahe.

Yaatrigan krupya dhyaan dijiye, gaadi no. Do aath paanch nao
Mumbai Howrah geetanjali express platform no. ek par aa rah hai.

Passengers, Attention please, Train no. two eight five Nine
Mumbai Howrah geetanjali express........................(voice dies down in the jhuk jhuk sound)

We all rush to S2. It's a crowd of people there cramming to get in first. Dad with 2 suitcases, Mom with a heave side bag, bro with same, and me with the Kool Keg (5 l water storage) also doing dhakka dhakki. Dad is shouting, arey pehle utarne waalon ko utarne dijiye. But nobody liking that obviously! And finally after 10 minutes everybody is in. But people have already occupied full luggage space under the seats and sitting on our seats also! Dad does some jhagda and then finally we all settle down. Me almost into tears and asking maa " Dad itna chilla kyon rahe hain" and maa says, "nahi tho koi uthta hi nahi aur hum baithte kaise?". Finally everything settles down and train is yet to leave. Dad goes out. and comes from outside towards the window and starts talking! And me crying, "baba, bhetore esho, train chere jaabe( come inside, train will leave)". But he wil come only at the last moment.
The train has finally started. And immediately me and bro put a series of questions to mom, "mummy, joota utar loon?","mummy, khana kab khana hai", "muumy haath dhoke aaoon kya".Even the walking in the shaky train was fun. But she replies , "we will do all after Kanhan."
So me n bro start waiting. With our hands cupped on the window to see outside in the dark. Meanwhile dad has started conversation with the same people with whom he was arguing for seats sometime back. Mom keeping a dignified silence, and me and bro, still looking out.
And then it comes. "Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang." The great Kanhan river. We have a hearty laugh as the river is almost dried up and how can they still call it a river.
Finally the river crosses away. The Hawai chappls are taken out of the bag and shoes and socks tucked under the Lower birth seat. We all wash hands and come. Mom takes out the 4 dabba ka tiffin box. Hmmmmmmmm, the mutton smell comes out. (This was before mom had stopped bringing non-veg in trains). Poori n mutton is what we have! And has to end with a sweet. As usual I crib about brother getting bigger pieces than me. And they give me the odd logic of he being elder so he has to eat more.
Anyway after that again jhagda between bro n me. As to who gets to sleep in the middle bunk, generally we always got 2 upper and 1 middle, one lower. This middle bunk fascination i guess was just created by me n bro, i never heard any other 2 kids cribbbing about it. Whatever, seeing our jhagda, some other passenger generally gives up his middle birth and we both are made happy. So we sleep. Even before bhandara has crossed.
Morning i wake up, i generally wake up very early in trains, and so did my bro. Though mom was awake below, we have to peep through the 3 inch view which u can get from middle bunk. It was divine, though what was divine about it i myself don't know, but surely enjoyed it a lot. The sun rising slowly behind the fast changing landscape.
And then chaiwala comes. Chai chai chai chai. Soon it will change to just cha cha cha( As bengal approaches) . Mom n dad get their cup of tea and we good boys, don't have tea. Especially not before going to Relatives for whom we are even better. My report card safely packed in the suitcase to show my Grandpa my 1st rank.
Anyway, we get hungry. Though mom has loads of biscuits and sweets, we want breakfast especially the terribly costly and unworthy train wala cutlet and bread jam. More so when somebody nearby is having it. But dad convinces us that we will have better food in Rourkela Jn, just 1 hour away.
Now another drama starts. Who gets the window seat. I don't know why mom n dad never intervened but it was always bro who won because his being bigger than me. Though a little while later, the kind person in the next window seat will give away. And i will go there and sit and try to showoff as i am seeing much better than my brother.
Rourkela comes, we have breakfast. Bread-omlette ya Puri Tarkari(they don't say bhaji there). Again eyes glued to window. Train gets a bit late, but we two hardly care much. Still ogling at the outside world. After sometime i get bored sitting alone, and i go n sit in brothers laps. So we both can share the same window. And mom sits in the other. Reading her "Shanonda" and dad doing justice to India Today. Suddely bro cries out-"Train benkche train benkche" meaning train is along a curve. We had made a logic out of it also. U can enjoy the maximum view only if you forst let the full frontal part diaapear from your eyes an then only look at the back part of it. But impatient me has to look at both ends.

Time goes by, a bit of champak , a bit of scenary, a bit of talking with new people of the train and here comes Tatanagar. Sun going high up and things get really hot. Time for cold drinks. Oooooo. What a thrilling word. Generally cold drinks was restrcited to just 1 during the journeys and 2-3 in durga puja. That's all. SO then i kept on shouting LIMCA LIMCA. Bro took a Maaza.
And i obviously the limca. But oh gosh. After one sip i hand it over to dad (its so strong) and eye for Brothers Maaza, but that he won't give.
Its lunch time now. And as you can't keep food for long, lunch has to be bought. And how we used to like that railway food. It was pathetic, but still we liked it. The 1 inch thick pooris which took away all the energy to tear and the tasteless Dal, but that was heaven. And especially the mix veg pickle. But it was too much for me, though i cried for a full lunch pack for myself, which they never bought, after 1/2 poori and a few morsels of rice, i quit and mom has to eat it all.
Meanwhile scenes are fast chaging outside. From the dry and yellow landscape of Bihar, we enter lush green west Benal, with green fields, lots of coconut and khajoor trees and water bodies along the tracks. Vendor comes saying "Mudi Mudi Jhal Muri". And this was the first thing mom demanded on the train. We all get 1 each. One with no mirchi especially made for me. It is just awesome. U have to eat it to believe it.
And now comes the penultimate stop. Kharagpur Jn. The world's longest platform. Heard of IITs just a few days back and IITKGP was just next to the station. Bro saying "how i want to come here." Mom beaming at him, and me thnking what's so great about it, i will go only to IITK. (Well those dreams were i guess not that early, i was just eight then but they came pretty soon, when i was in 5th and all. Whatever those dreams never came true and now nor do i care)

Now train leave sthe platform and we all get eager. Just two more stops. With every 5 minutes "Maa aar kotokkhon (how much more maa)", we get desperate and a different question comes now. "Shall we wear the shoes,Should we comb the hair, should we wash the face." And she says -Let Roopnarayan pass. And then after an hour from kharagpur-
"Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang Ghadang ghadang ghadang ghadang."
This is a much bigger river and full of water too. As soon as it passes, we start gettng busy. Just an hour more. Go to freshen up, wear the shoes, mom combs our hairs. And now mom occupies the window. After all, kolkata is just a fun place for us, it was where she stayed for years. And she gets the first peek at the great HOWRAH BRIDGE. Howrah bridge mein jo baat hai, woh much biiger and beautiful hote huye bhi 2nd Hoogly bridge mein nahi hai.

And then turn by turn we alll take a peek. But cug chug chug. Train has stopped in Santragachi. Line not clear. Each minute seems like a day. But finally at snails pace, train enters the platform. Me and bro, face stuck to the windows, see who has come to receive us. Oh Its Boro mama and choto mama.
The train finally stops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Late on Saturday Night

To hell with it!
Nobody is reading my blogs, nobody is commenting. So let me start off with my own stories just for myself!
My weekned stories. Earlier they used to be there in my mails! To my friends, then talking about it in my cubicle and lots more! Well with orkut and Gchat, e-mail has become as rare as snail mails letters in my inbox! Only deepak (chacha) never quits replies to replies and so do i! So that is the mail I get daily!
Anyway, My weekend was eventful! Mixed goods and bads.
1st the bads! My two favourites, England And Argentina are out of the world cup now! The World cup now olds no interest for me. The first change I did for that was change my yahoo avtaar! I Do really like what I have done now!

Ok that was the bad part! Now the goods!
Brazil lost! That was real good! I have always compared brazil in football to what Australia is in cricket! It is fooolish to play with them! But whatever, now that they are out, its nice! Though i hold no high feelings fro france too.

Secondly I saw 2 superhero movies.
Superman And Krrish

Well both movies were good! I mean i expected more out of superman but it was not that bad!
The best part of Superman was Superman Himself! Brandon Routh does his part well! And he looks just like the old Superman, and that alone can make the movie a hit.
And then I saw krrish! It was quite good! Finally really an indian superhero! He can fly and he can jump from trees! The special effects were pretty realistic and nobody can doubt that Hrithik Roshan was best suited for the role! The review wrote Priyanka Chopra was underutilized but I can't undwerstand what else she could have done! It was not a superheroine movie! And the only Indian Heroine who is capable of making a hit superwoman was already there in the movie!
Rekha never ceases to amaze me! To be frank, I was never into movies in her era! I started following movies only during Juhi Chawla's rse and she was and still is my favourite.
Whatever, Rekha for me was always the heroine they used to shwo in filmfare when Amitabh Bachchan went on stage! And the movie I had seen was Khoon Bhari Maang or something that had "Secretary Follow Me" dialogue! I started liking her after her "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal". Then movies like silsila, utsav, umrav jaan follwoed and i kept on liking her even more and more! She is really fabulous!!

Another movie I saw was "Dirty Pretty Things" starring Audrey Tautou. She was just too good. And the storyline was also too strong!

Ok now enough of movies. But these were not the things that made my day! I was really down after the England loss and I called up Vikram. Then somehow we decided to have a conference call with Advay and later Ananth joined in. It was really welcome! We talked for looooong and enjoyed the good old days. The usual Advay n Ananth saying bad things about HER and me and vikram started hitting back and finally i guess it was we who won [:0] Anyway who cares! The call went on for 30+ minutes. It was the best 30 minutes of the day.
Another high point wa scalling Anindita on her Bday. It was her birthday today! I really liked talking to her and i guess it was the same feeling from the other side as well. She had loads to tell and i was patient to listen! It was a real fun!

Anyway that's all happened in the day!It's 12:09 now of sunday as i post this.

What I had been following these days

I have written a similar post earlier! But the things I am follwoing have changed. Here is one more.

1) Fifa World Cup 2006:

It's hard to believe, even for me that i have been watching this thing so ardently but it is true!

I have never been interested in so much of sports before. I have always followed only the finals of the world cup! But this time it was from the beginning! Argentina got out of the tournament today. They were my second favs! Let's see what my Fav england does. It will be so monotonous though if it is a brazil/germany final. It will be interesting no doubt, but this has been predicted since long! I don't like these kinds! Anyway, let's keep our fngers crossed.

2) Airline Tickets:
For going home in december, i have to book tickets now. Have contacted numerous people but later boiled down to "Mitra Travel". It would be wrong to say that I didn't have the mitra-mitra funda in my mind at all, but she gave me no special deal, i think rather a bad deal itself! But what to do. Whatever has happneed has happened.

3) IIFA 2006:
I have been desperately waiting for this, though i have no idea why! Was looking for videos on youtube even before it actually happnened. Till date, no site has come up with complete coverage, but here is i think the best part of the show. Rani-Ayesha-Amitabh in black. The hrithik n salman performances were also decent enough.

4)Google Earth/Wiki Maps: This new site is just awesome. Came to know about it just yesterday.and I have been trying to increase their database for information ever since. You have the option there in which u can put a block around a certain place and decribe it. I have been putting blocks around my kolkata house, nagpur house and my school, my KG school etc etc ever since.

Jo Beet gayi so baat gayi

One of my favourite poems, finally collected from the net!

Jo beet gayee so baat gayee

Jo beet gayee so baat gayee

jeevan meiN ek sitaaraa tha
maana woh behad pyaara tha
woh Duub gayaa to Duub gaya
ambar ke aanan ko dekho
kitne iske taare TuuTe
kitne iske pyaare chhuuTe
jo chhuuT gaye fir kahaN miley
par bolo Tuute taaroN par
kab ambar shok manaata hai?

jo beet gayee so baat gayee

jeevan meiN tha woh ek kusum
the us par nitya nichhaawar tum
woh suukh gaya to suukh gaya
madhuvan ki chhaati ko dekho
suukhi iski kitni kaliyaaN
murjhaayee kitni vallariyaaN
jo murjhaayee fir kahaN khilii
par bolo suukhe fuuloN par
kab madhuvan shor machaata hai?

jo beet gayee so baat gayee

jeevan meiN madhu ka pyaalaa tha
tum ne tan-man de Daala tha
woh TuuT gaya to TuuT gaya
madiraalaya ka aaNgan dekho
kitne pyaale hil jaate haiN
gir miTTi meiN mil jaate haiN
jo girte haiN kab uThte haiN
par bolo TuuTe pyaaloN par
kab madiraalaya pachhtaata hai?

jo beet gayee so baat gayee

mridu miTTi ke haiN bane huye
madhu ghaT phuuTa hi karte haiN
laghu jeevan lekar aaye haiN
pyaale TuuTa hi karte haiN
fir bhi madiraalaya ke andar
madhu ke ghaT haiN, madhu pyaale haiN
jo maadakta ke maare haiN
woh madhu luuTa hi karte haiN
woh kachcha peene waala hai
jiski mamta ghaT pyaaloN par
jo sachchhe madhu se jala huaa
kab rota hai chillaataa hai

jo beet gayee so baat gayee

- Harivanshrai "Bachchan"

Dad had a dream

I was talking to Baba (dad) over phone yesterday and he said he suddenly had a dream. I found it real funny and so i mention it here.
In his words- “I was running here and there frantically regarding your admission, mostly with a bagful of money too. And then finally secured admission in some obscure WB private college he meets the director of the college and that person asks, 'aapke bete ko hum kisliye admit kare?' and I replied 'kuch bhi pooch lijiye, use sab kuch aata hai' "

This was his dream, but I think these points to a lot of things. Firstly there are fathers who are overtly interested in what goes on with the son and try to always guide them. And then there are fathers who are happy with a yes answer to the question "bete , sab padhai wadhai theek chal raha hai naa?". Both are pretty irritating but given a choice, i would have loved the first category!
Baba is a blend of both, though acting like the second one, he keeps a close eye on everything!
Thankfully there was nothing that happened as was in the dream, I didn't have to go running around for colleges neither did i have to pay any huge amount as payment seat admit for my college.
But he did run around for my MS admissions. "Baba, i want a statement of finance", " Baba, i want this document faxed to me by 5 today", "baba, i want a CA statement" and numerous such wishes were immediately done!


Anyway, this was the first part of the sapna, analyzing the second part, earlier i thought it was just my father but now i know all fathers of the world are really proud of their siblings!

And another discussion about paying money in some obscure WB college for an engineering admission. Sometimes i have a doubt that is it really worth it, but now looking at the current scenario, I think it does. Keeping even a decent money in mind, you have to rule out all other professions other than Medical, and then news like TCS and Infosys hiring 25000 each during 06-07, it leaves little doubt that these companies will even go to Baba Gop Gapangam Das institute of technology in Jhumri Tallaiya, East UP. (The name is a hypothetical and I guess it is the worst name n place one can have for a college)

So that's it! That was the dream.


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Anti-Reservation, My Take

Better late than never! Not getting much ideas to blog in recent past, there is no way i can let 1 go!
But this doesn't mean I am just writing one for the sake of writing!
Here we go!
I am against reservation but unlike many i am not against minorities or backward classes!
I Do believe that backward classes and minorities are still suppressed in India! Villages are no different! We, the e-saavy, blogging youth generally always come from posh metros or the so called small towns which are not small anymore! But what happens in Kalahandi(Orissa), Salekasa (chattisgarh) and the tiny villages in UP n Bihar, we don't know!
From some recent interactions I have come to know that India is still NOT shining in these places and lot many more! Caste discrimination is still at large and really bad in all these places!
For that matter all of us(Indians) are still. How many of us can do an intercast marriage without any eyebrow raise of any of the relatives. IMPOSSIBLE.

Generally all the anti-reservation protesters have this grudge since their admission days! Numerous examples have been written as how that boy didn't get to this institute and all but in this I want to thank my Mom as she had always told me to compete for that 250 seats that is available for you and never see the 500 seats and 50% reservation and this helped me a lot!

During my time in addition to the usual 50% reservation there was 50% reservation on the remaining 50% for girls! It was a big blow for me and I still remember how I cried after the counseling on being admitted to LIT. But never has the thought of blaming it on women or SC/ST came to my mind. And later, a prof in LIT had told that this rule hurts in the beginning but it's a blessing in disguise for the 4 years to follow! You have a 1-1 ratio and chance for a girlfriend is almost assured!

Whatever, i think reservation can't help improving the backward classes as the classes in India are based on socially backward and not economically backward an the two are no longer similar. So the general caste will hate the backward class even more, now in addition to the general hatred for the lower caste, they will hate them more for the undue advantages. So there is no use of the reservation + as no party is opposing the motion, i don't see how it will benefit one particular party!

Lastly, thanks to RDB, the youth is coming up so nicely for something! This was a phenomenon which was lost since independence i guess!

Arundhati says

Finally i got one statement which I have been tryin to express for a long long time but nobody can put t better than she does.
Thanks to my brother who sent me this as a forward:

"..the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don't deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don't surprise you with the unforeseen.. They are as familiar as the house you live in. Or the smell of your lover's skin. You know how they end yet you listen as though you don't. In the way that you know that one day you will die, you live as though you won't. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn't. And yet you want to know again.

That is their mystery and their magic.."

~Arundhati Roy

CARS-Movie Review

Well, my first movie review!
CARS is an animation and the general indian youth mindset somehow is not used to the concept of atching animations and that too in theater! But i love it!
Anyway, coming to the movie. Pixar is famous for it's 3-D animations and there was no less of it here! The scenic nevada desert and especially the shadows and the mountains and the roadsigns was neautifully done! And as in all cartoons, the eyes had to be of big consequence!
I liked the concept because it was something i found myself related too! It was about Route 66. To know what i feel about route 66, read this.
The story is about how a race car gets lost on it's way to California on i-40 and lands up in a forgotten town which was on Route 66. What happens there is the movie.
Mater, the friend of our hero Lightning McQueen, and Sally his love are just awesome! Somehow i feel even the dubbed hindi movie will be really good! Because i felt Stuart Little was much funnier in Hindi than in English! And they can make this one also.

But i still can't give it any star rating! Because i am already biased towards the movie! So to ask for a good opinion, ask somebody else.

SHAMU- The happening weekend part3

Well, i don't think i can do proper justice to the story! There is Shamu and there is rest of the trip!
SHAMU first!
Shamu is a killer whale. Rather it is a group of liller whales with white n black body, twisted fin and is used in sea world San Antonio, Orlando n San diego. Shamu was used in the movie Free willy! For more info on Shamu, see http://www.shamu.com/
Everythihg about Shamu was good, the moment i entered the shamu "believe" theatre, i felt the shamu pulse! And whooosh!!!!!!!!!! here it comes! The shiny black and white body carrying the trainer! for a monet i forgit i was 23 and felt as if i was a kid! They were showing footages from the film too! The show went on for some 25 minutes and i felt every pie is worth it! The ticket was 40$ for the full sea world but i felt just shamu is worth the money and may be even more! But as usual, few agree with me. See the pictures uploaded to get a feel!
A note for vikram: When i come to San Diego, A shamu show is a must!


Now continuing with rest of the sea world story! After Shamu, we went to a ride! It turned u full ulta! 1 was ok, but soon it turned upside down again. and then 3, 4.... by the time i reached 5, i was like if it is not the last one, i will throw up! But thank god, it ended there!!! Everybody was happy but ya everybod was glad to get out of it too! Do i really hate such artificial thrills! I gues i do! I know i can manage most of the rides. I have survived all so far. But i really don't enjoy them! I find nothing good in them except telling others that it was so thrilling! It's so artificial thrill! U can have the same thrill in your dream also! And for one who gets thrills with Jane Austen novels, these look really artificial!

Whatever, coming back to the day events, next we went to one water ride! It wa stoo much rush so we had a 45 minute wait for the ride! There was a small boat which carried 6 people and carried them along a topsy turvy artificial river which had waterfalls and all! During the wait, pranay was pulling my leg a lot and i told him, "dekh le beta, tu hi bheegega sabse zyada". and it was true! click on the heading to see what happened to him! This ride was fun, load sof fun, but ofcourse no thrill!

Next we went for a dolphin show which was also too good but it was made "feeka" due to the shamu effect! Next we went for food and then saw penguins and went for another ride called steel eel. This didn't have any turn ulta so there was no "chakkar" involved but there was a 70 degree all! It was real thrill this time! As it falls, you are off the chair and u r held with just the metal belt which u hold. But the scenery was fantastic!

After that, we went to the sea lion show! This also, u have to see it to believe it! The sea lions and the walrus did a full skit about how to find an old uncle who has gone into hiding! The stage was 2 storeys and the lions did go toeach level and jumped and did all activities! The high time was when the uncle was found, it was a big creamy walrus and it was too fat! The instructor asked, what r u doing to reduce weight? and it actually started doing abs!!!

After yet another ride, it was time's up! It was 9 pm, but i had no mood of coming back! I wanted more of Shamu!
On the way back, it was fun! U just have to ask Harsha how is Dr. Enjeti (her advisor) and u can sit back for hours and listen her talk :) (Just kidding)

Reached back at 2 am and called home! After all i was missing mom a lot! She loves astronomy , and she loves sea! So it would have been actually an ideal trip for her. Missing u maa!