Good bye two thousand nine

This is my last blog post of the year. I am starting a 365 project in 2010. Tomorrow is my first day. Wish me luck!

By the way, this is the link where I’ll be uploading my 365 entries.

http://twentyten365adventure.wordpress.com/

Wishing every one a smashing year ahead.

Resolution time already

Twelve more days to go before the sun sets on 2009. It’s time for new year resolutions. I like the idea of having new years resolutions. It keeps me occupied, and amused. Counting the number of days before I break them. They usually don’t last more than a week.. but it’s fun. Challenging yourself.

So, it’s that time of the year again.. when everyone looks back and smiles at the silly things they’ve done. This has been one roller coaster of a year.. plenty of travel, got my first DSLR, started working out again (after a break of almost 4 months!), trekked to some interesting places..

My plans for 2010 .. alright here goes.

Plan to strike off a few more things off my bucket list. Yea, that means more travel!

Being a photography ‘learner’.. I regularly surf a lot of photography related sites. Came across this interesting article a few days back, and that’s when I decided.. I’m gonna do this in 2010.

This is my 2010 resolution.

I am gonna start on January 1st. There will be lows.. I am sure of it. Sometimes I may skip a day, or cheat. But at the end of the year, if I have clicked 200 photographs (that is 200 days.. wow!), I’d consider it mission successful.

I’ll be spending more time with my camera in 2010.

Already started scanning various forums, looking for survival tips. I have got to brush up on my GIMP knowledge as well. I will be starting a new blog for the project photos. The best ones to be uploaded on my aminus3 page as well.

Survival tips.. What’s that? Well, it’s not easy clicking, and uploading one photo per day. I will have to click at least 10 to 15 shots before deciding which one features as the “Photo of the Day”. There will be lean days.. specially after returning home after 12-14 hours of slaving. Those will be the days when I’ll need inspiration.

I am not making any schedules or timetables. No “theme of the month” etc. Just shoot whatever I like.

So here’s wishing me Good luck. Pray that I’m honest, and manage to get some good shots throughout 2010.

Wishing everyone a Happy New year.

Cheers!

I’m different!

Be different, stand out.

“Each one of you has something no one else has, or has ever had: your fingerprints, your brain, your heart. Be an individual. Be unique. Stand out. Make noise. Make someone notice. That’s the power of individuals.”

Trekked to Avchitgad last weekend. It was a wonderful trek, a bit tiring during the ascent as I was trekking after a break of almost 3 months. Non monsoon treks are hectic. And not that pleasing to the eye too. Post monsoon months just paint a layer of brown on green.Clicked this photo last weekend, at Avchitgad.

The green leaves stand out against the background of brown, dried grass… like it’s trying to tell us “Be different.. be YOU. Don’t blend. You are unique, be just that!”

Showing the finger.

Exercised my right to vote . Sad to read reports about the low voter turnout in the city. Well done people!! The people who don’t vote are the ones who crib the most.

Congratulations to all those made the most of the holiday by chilling out at home.

Postcards from Shilonda…

Went to Shilonda on September 26th. No.. not some exotic place. Shilonda is one of the trails in SGNP (Borivali National Park). It’s a short walk of about 4 to 5 km inside the national park. It was an opportunity to visit my city’s “lungs“. Hadn’t visited the national park since can’t remember when!

It was a pleasant day. Well, not really “pleasant” pleasant.. Pleasant because of the company

Enjoyed every moment of the trail. Saw plenty of butterflies along the trail. Don’t remember any names now. I was carrying a notepad and a pen, but it’s me.. never gonna write down all the interesting stuff. Yeh, I do remember this one interesting bit, There are around 150 species of butterfly in the National park. Interesting, isn’t it?

No information jotted down.. nothing much to write about.. except that I was with a bunch of interesting people. There’s this trekking group called TrekMates, who had organised this trail.

It was a lovely Saturday.. me, the great outdoors and my camera.

Here’s a collage created with some of the pictures I clicked.

Postcards from Shilonda

Top of the table!

Three weeks into the new season of the Premier League, and Spurs are on top. My beloved Spurs (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club .. for the uninitiated) — numero uno! Too good to be true. Could this be our year?

It’s early days, and I’m sure that’s not where we are gonna finish the season. A top 6 finish, that’ll be good. After all the chopping and changing in the previous seasons, this team looks like a stable combination. We haven’t lost any big names in the summer. The pre season has been okayish. A few loses, a few good wins, and most importantly no big name exits!

Flashback to the start of the 08-09 season. Senor Ramos had already won us the Carling cup, with Jol’s team though. We had a manager with an impressive resume, but we lost Berbatov, and Keane to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively. So what?

We started badly, lost to newly promoted teams like Stoke City (no offence, Stoke City fans). 2 points from 8 games. Everyone’s favourite joke. More than the loss of Berbatov and Keane, it was the lack of team spirit that was hurting.

Ramos was sacked in October. Harry “The Messiah” Redknapp replaced him .. and the rest is history! A strong finish, finals of the Carling cup, and a decent run in the FA and UEFA cup.

Fast forward to 09-10 season. Total contrast to what happened a year earlier. Started the season with a win over Liverpool. We had beaten them earlier, twice last season. But it was the win over Hull City and also West Ham that showed we could win away too. Away matches have always been a pain. Hope that changes now.

Like I said, it’s still early days. Don’t know where we’ll be at the end of the season. But this team, under Harry Redknapp looks a pretty strong challenger for the top 6. I’m not getting carried away as yet!

Looking at the current team, this does seem stronger than previous seasons. We always had a strong strike force, pacy  wingers. But it was the central midfield, and the back 4 that were problematic. Not any more, though there’s the Center back position that’s a bit shaky with King and his knee, Woodgate who’s injury prone, and Dawson who had been impressive last season, but injured and hasn’t started yet this season. Left back. Poor Gareth Bale. He was tipped to break into the starting XI, over Assou Ekotto. Now, he’s out injured too. The central midfield partnership of Palacios (a shrewd buy in January) and Huddlestone seems a lot stable than the previous seasons. This could change once Jenas is back. Aaron Lennon and Luka Modric own the right and left wings. It will take a massive effort from Bentley to displace Lennon now.

I’m pretty confident this team will continue the dream run. A top 6 finish looks likely. Just praying this isn’t one of the “flatter to decieve” quality that has been a distinct feature of the recent Spurs teams.

This summer was a bit different from the previous summers mainly because we weren’t linked with a lot of big money transfers. There weren’t any major exits. And most importantly, there wasn’t a lot of “top-4 this year” bull****.

This season could be the toughest ever, with Manchester City and their millions threatening to break the elusive top 4.  Don’t write off Aston Villa and Everton. They may have had a faltering start. But these two teams have it in them to finish anywhere between 4 and 7.

Keeping my feet on the ground and head out of the clouds.

COYS.

Saturday photo : Green!

Back to blogging after a long time.. Been busy with the usual boring routine.. work, work and more work!

The rains had hit Mumbai, but disappeared even before you could say `pitter patter`.

All the workplace frustration, the swine flu scare, recession … got to me and I decided to head out to the countryside.

Being outdoors refreshes your mind, and body, and also allows me to pursue my passions, photography and trekking.

Trekked to Rangana Gad, in the Konkan region, last weekend. The Independence day weekend.

This is a relatively unknown fort, located in the Konkan region.

Clicked plenty of photos on the way up, and also on the way down.

GREEN .. every where you see. Love the outdoors, love the colour.

Happy friendship day

My first post after a long break .. dedicated to those who make this world a beautiful place ..FRIENDS.

Happy friendship day to all my friends. May we celebrate many more.

Here’s a lovely text message I received today…

It’s in Marathi, but here goes.

Ek prawas maitricha

Jasa haluvar pawsacha saricha

Ti pawsachi sar algad yeun jaate

ani

Ek sundar maitri haluch baharun jaate

Here’s a cup of cappuchino and a brownie for my friends

Saturday photo : Rain

Raindrops

It is a rainy Saturday. It’s been raining since morning, pouring actually! Nothing much to do, except sit at home, by the window.. watch the world go by, have a nice cup of ginger tea, and listen to Pink Floyd on my iPod.

Well, that’s the ideal way to spend a rainy day.. sit by the window, watching the raindrops, tea, a good book, good music, and kanda bhajji!

I love it when it pours.. ummm, let me rephrase. I love it when it pours, except when I’m on my way to work. Nothing beautiful about getting drenched, and spending the next 8 hours sneezing.

It started to pour cats, dogs and elephants in the afternoon… sometime after 2:00pm. The raindrops made beautiful music on the tin roof, and painted a lovely picture on the window pane.

Clicked this shot of raindrops on the window with my mobile camera.

Off to the Iron Fort

The rains have finally arrived here in Mumbai, and I’m off to Lohagad (Iron fort) tomorrow. Yippeee!! I’m finally going for a trek. It has been one long lazy summer.