panthera tigris

The proposed plan was to stay in the malani lodge inside corbett for two nights but with Mr.G being in Delhi, K in England and O in Delhi as well, everyone i knew in Corbett was out. So we decided to just spend the night at riverine woods in marchula.
Vikram and Chandranshu came along. IT was all planned suddenly and i dint really expect to have as much fun as we did as i thought the guys would be pretty disappointed.

We left Delhi around 4 and by 6 Vikram was already hungry. Kanta who was in the navigator s seat dozed away but vikram was quick to spot a dhabha. So 4 aalo parathas and a tea later, we were off again. Passed through moradabad on the way. Azzu bhai's pictures were every where. Does that mean we ll get to eat Dum Biryani in moradabad :D ?



We finally made it to Tiger Camp by around 10 30. The plan was to have lunch at Tiger camp and set off to marchula around 1. So we had a couple of hours to kill. Tiger camp is situated on banks of Kosi. The last time i was here, Kosi was wild! totally totally furious gushing river. but now it with no showers, it seemed pretty tame. infact we were able to cross the whole river on foot without any issues. Global Warming is now a reality and not just a concept!



Lunch at Tiger camp is always an elaborate affair. Chicken,eggs, rice, curd, sweets, custard and beer ofcourse, it was all there. We then proceeded to marchula. The weather was bloody hot and it was worse cos we were in an open top gypsy, but the offroading through the ramganga made it all seem worth it. The guys were just thrilled to come to this place. completely away from civilisation as we know it. In fact until recently there was no power supply here as well. But now they do have low energy bulbs running. With the gentle gushing of hte ramganga as the background, the setting sun meant it was time for some ghooming at dusk. we went into the surrounding jungles and did some birding. Once we reached the river, Yashpal our guide asked us if we wanted to swim. Well the last time i went swimming was in 6th. I ve never been under water since then (well the one day at Y! year end party doesnt count). So though I was not sure, we decided to take a shot. Ramganga has a healthy population of mahsheer, trout and the gharial. Though the gharial are only found in the dhikala zone and are rarely seen this far downstream, There was the outside chance that they were present in the waters. So while vikram took some time to overcome his fear of water and crocs, I decided to jump in!!! The water was surprisingly cold for this time of the year. We were there for almost an hour. I realised i could still swim in the rivers.




Our shack was called jhirna jhali. We had a quick shower before dinner and ordered some beer. Now the darkness, the surrounding hills and the millions of stars in the sky and the quietness of hte jungle was almost perfect. D i wish u were there. But just as we began to settle down, there it was. the familiar "ooonk" of the sambar. The alarm call which indicates the presence of a predator nearby. I ran in to call vikram and then towards the dining area to call kantha. Both of them mistook it to be a trumpet. We took manoj ( a naturalist at the camp) and went towards the call. The call was coming from the other side of hte river. It was pretty dark. The calls dint stop. I was sure there was a predator. Then hte langur call came from slightly to our left. about 10 o clock. It was clear. the predator was moving towards the left. and since the left meant downhill, we figured it was probably coming for a quick sip from the river. If that was the case we would get an awesome sighting. So we remained silent. The langur and the sambar went about their calling. Then came the growl. The low guttural sound thats so typical of the leopard. From what i read in KA, this noise is only made as a deterrant to scare off possible danger. I could feel the tension in the air. After a few minutes there was a second call from the right this time. Not sure if there were two leopards or one, but they dint really show up on the banks and the silence returned again. So we headed back to the camp. Little did we know that the show was not over yet. A low howling noise came as if out of nowhere from the neighbouring hill. I was curious as i had never heard that noise before. Upon enquiring a bit, i had my first tryst with jungle lore. Many years ago a woodcutter died after he fell from a tree and it is said he haunts the surrounding woods emitting shrill cries for help. :D The rest of hte night was pretty silent. We had dinner and slept pretty early.



At 5 30 the next day, we went on another round of ghooming through the jungles. It was interesting to note how the tiny pools of water that are remnants of a tiny stream housed a whole micro eco system. There were algae, there were fish to eat the algae, spiders to eat the fish and well bigger fish to eat the spiders. It was fascinating. We came across two barking deer and a ghorial, on our way back.


We did take another dip in the pool and the star attraction was this white throated kingfisher which flew right by us repeatedly in search of fish. it was beautiful. At around 12, we decided to head back. Like i ve said a million times before, the ride back is rarely as exciting as the ride towards a holiday destination. There s no unknown left in the day. though it was a really short vacation. We had amazing fun! and thanks to Mr.G who inspite of not being at tiger camp, managed to arrange for us... a spectacular weekend in the jungle!

As you can see sleep is a top priority for employee satisfaction.
Note Kanta sleeping in the conference room. Wat makes it even funnier is that, it was his first day at work and he was being given the overview of the architecture. :D

The top-row-third-from-left is yours truly. god knows wen but looks like the old office. lol

I don't know what to say really.
Three minutes
to the biggest battle of our professional lives
all comes down to today.
Either
we heal
as a team
or we are going to crumble.
Inch by inch
play by play
till we're finished.
We are in hell right now, gentlemen
believe me
and
we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us
or
we can fight our way
back into the light.
We can climb out of hell.
One inch, at a time.

Now I can't do it for you.
I'm too old.
I look around and I see these young faces
and I think
I mean
I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.
I uh....
I pissed away all my money
believe it or not.
I chased off
anyone who has ever loved me.
And lately,
I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror.

You know when you get old in life
things get taken from you.
That's, that's part of life.
But,
you only learn that when you start losing stuff.
You find out that life is just a game of inches.
So is football.
Because in either game
life or football
the margin for error is so small.
I mean
one half step too late or to early
you don't quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast
and you don't quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in ever break of the game
every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch
On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us
to pieces for that inch.
We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.
Cause we know
when we add up all those inches
that's going to make the fucking difference
between WINNING and LOSING
between LIVING and DYING.

I'll tell you this
in any fight
it is the guy who is willing to die
who is going to win that inch.
And I know
if I am going to have any life anymore
it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch
because that is what LIVING is.
The six inches in front of your face.

Now I can't make you do it.
You gotta look at the guy next to you.
Look into his eyes.
Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you.
You are going to see a guy
who will sacrifice himself for this team
because he knows when it comes down to it,
you are gonna do the same thing for him.

That's a team, gentlemen
and either we heal now, as a team,
or we will die as individuals.
That's football guys.
That's all it is.
Now, whattaya gonna do?

The taj through my eyes :)




And thats the last time you are gonna see me wearing a pink lungi.
We had gone to fatehpur sikri after agra, and apparently we cant wear shorts and walk in. so they gave me this pink lungi.... :(






Some pics of the Taj!

Its been almost a year since I joined Lime Labs (ofcourse back then we were called LimeSpot :D)..
Its 4 a.m IST and I dont remember being this excited and sleep deprived at the same time in the last one year. Lime Domains has undergone its first major architectural change.. We now provide hosting for free!.
Do check it out.
www.limedomains.com
www.limelabs.com


Now the right question is..
Will free hosting be as popular as free email is?
hmmm I have my fingers crossed!