Digitally Exploring the world

" Into the Wild . By Jon Krakauer " - This is one of those book's that has had an everlasting impression on me. It was probably about a decade back when I first read it when my mum lent it out from the library. I had never heard or read about Christopher McCandless till then. It was really difficult to get a copy of the book those days, but my mum did surprise me with a copy of the book in the coming days,something I treasure till this day. Chris, was an intelligent young man ( He graduated in June 1990 from Emory University in Atlanta, where he distinguished himself as a history/anthropology major and was also offered membership in Phi Beta Kappa, but declined it, insisting that titles and honors were of no importance) . He was also an accomplished athlete, and a veteran of several solo excursions into wild, inhospitable terrain. After graduating he donated the entire amount of $20,000 in his account , to Oxford Famine Relief Fund. Then, without notifying any friends ...

Here are two movies for sportslovers that shouldn't be given a miss. The first one's about a motorbike the 2nd about a cycle(bike). It's also about human beings struggling against all odds-monetary,health and aspiring to set a mark and break the world record times. Both based on real life stories and inspirational heroes. "The worlds fastest indian" is based on a real life inspirational story line and has a wonderful performance by Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro . It's about Munro's fearless devotion to his lifelong love: speed racing, specifically on his re-conditioned 1920s-era Indian motorcycle.Though plagued by a heart ailment, Munro soldiers on, modifying his ancient Indian motorcycle using nothing more than junkyard parts and with almost no money , makes his way half around the world to race at the Salt Flats of Bonneville in Utah. Today I watched another wonderful film and this time it was about cycling and it wasn't about Lance Amstrong but O...

Download or Watch this video Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. A must watch!!

Download the video in case the online video doesn't play.. One of the very few corporate guys(non-conformist)I really admire. Love him challenging established companies (e.g British Airways) and opening up new areas(e..g space travel). But the best part of him is the adventurous streak that doesn't stop him from trying to fly a hot air balloon over the Atlantic and almost getting killed a bunnch of times.Also love his frank opinion about anything. Here's the link to the page.

Thought of putting all the links as an offshoot from the main topic.. I spent two wonderful weeks in some of the remotest villages in our country , also trying to find some answers to the unanswered questions that bother me. Found a few answers in the spiritual discussions i had along the way,had some adventures, met some veteran travelers, made some friends for life, encountered what is really India in the simple and ever cheerful villagers and got back to this busy modern ever connected world and still have lots of unanswered questions ?? Hope to see of your comments on them :) Posts: On the Buddha Trail (1) ::::::Tabo On the Buddha Trail (2) ::::::Kibber On the Buddha Trail (3) ::::::Nako On the Buddha Trail (4) ::::::MacLeodGanj Pics from this trip: Manali-Kaza Tabo Kibber Nako MacLeodGanj

Here's the 4th one, after the first few ones (incase you are still interested with my semi literate writing skills!!) : On the Buddha Trail (1) ::::::Tabo On the Buddha Trail (2) ::::::Kibber On the Buddha Trail (3) ::::::Nako The bus reached Dharmsala bustop around 5a.m. and I had to wait for the next bus to MacLeodGanj at 8a.m. I could have possibly walked and taken a share jeep but decided against it since there was no real advantage getting there so early with guesthouses having checkin only at noon. Went and rested at the Canteen at the bus stop, where a very friendly attendant , made hot tea, omelet and toast (costed me only 8 Rs!!). The overcrowded bus that left at 8a.m. was at MacLeodGanj in half an hour. I tried getting a room at two of the Guesthouses recommended by a fellow traveller but both were full. Had my breakfast and was waiting for a checkout at the recommended guesthouse but I wasn't in for luck that day. I then started walking around and found a nice ...

Here's a 3rd one, after the first two : On the Buddha Trail (1) ::::::Tabo On the Buddha Trail (2) ::::::Kibber The bus reached Kaza in an hour's time from Kibber, and was heading to Nako and we decided to further our travels. However, the bus had trouble with its gearbox and we had wait for sometime while it got fixed. The only thought I had at the moment was to thank someone, for having reached Kaza in one piece. Savoured hot cups of chai and glucose biscuits as we waited for the bus to get fixed but after 2 hours both the driver and mechanic decided that they couldn't do a quick fix and all of us had to transfer to another bus. The journey from Kaza to Nako takes about 4hours or so and passes through some really beautiful sceneries of rugged mountains with patches of green in between and glimpses of first snow at a distance. The bus also stops at the Tabo busstop on the way. Both (Gottfried and me) were the only tourists from Kaza but some Swiss girls got up at Tabo and...

Here's the 2nd post after the one on Tabo. Finally, I reached Kaza around noon after 2 days of trying to leave Tabo and being stranded because of no bus in sight, heavy rains,bad roads etc. I was really hungry and found a small shop near the bus station where i had a wonderful meal of steaming hot mutton curry and rice. A meal to remember!! With a happy stomach I tried asking around for the next possible bus to Kibber but was told that since no buses had come from the other side for 2 days, no buses were available for Kibber that day. Asked around for Taxi but there was no share ones available and hiring just a jeep for self would work out to be too expensive for just an hour's ride. Was cursing myself for not having a light backpack, else I could have walked the 20 odd kms to Kibber. But I didn't have to hurry, I had all the time, I remembered something i had read someplace earlier that goes something like this " Life, takes on a neat simplicity too. Time ceases to h...

PS: The video quality could be a bit poor since it was taken using my compact camera. I saw some monks doing a slow rhythmic dance like movement while arguing about something very serious and after each major dialogue they would clap very loudly. This is the first time I have seen this kind of a ritual. I asked an elderly Tibetan gentlemen sitting around what they were talking and he mentioned they were discussing something from the scriptures which even he couldn't comprehend. Has anybody seen something like this before ??

My first post on my recent Buddhist Trail. I headed to Delhi from Bangalore on a beautiful Saturday morning with this map and the return tickets after 2 weeks and no plans !! Once at Delhi, headed to Janpath for the bus to Manali. While waiting for the bus I met Christine, an elderly French lady , an author of 15books, a PhD in psycho-ethnology( don't ask me what one really researches for that!!) . She has been a world traveller and even spent 3 years in early 1970s as a 20 year old hitchhiking around India . We had an interesting conversation while seated in the heat of Delhi (39 degrees Celsius, phew) about society, people, freedom ,women's place in the society, human mind and genetics . In the midst of our talk she said she felt i would write a book very soon :) not sure why she thought that way. Only time well tell if her premonition worked out !. We parted ways as our buses arrived. I was the odd one out in the Volvo bus I had boarded for Manali, the rest of the passenger...