A little boy's haircut !!

It was just another visit to the barber's. Hair cutting like shaving is a must for us 'uncool' guys who'd like to keep our hair short !! After a haircut, I feel most relieved. It feels so nice and cool and free. Its almost as if, hair has extra weight which gets off, after the snips. As I was directed to the chair by the barber, I noticed that a very young boy was sitting in the chair next to mine. He must have been around 4 to 5 years old. His mother was sitting on one of chairs at the behind of the shop and instructing the hair cutter how to cut the boy's hair.

I remembered the time when my father used to bring me to this very saloon, when I was around the kid's age. My father still remembers me sitting quietly on the chair....'like a good boy' he says !! The barber never had any problem cutting my hair, as I used to sit very steady (unlike at most other times, when I used to be a very restless tot). It only used to be a problem when I used to shake when he used to shave off the fine hairs with a scalpel causing a very strong tickle !!

For some reason I also remembered that there was a stop next to the saloon from where dad used to get me a chocolate lollypop after every cut, as a reward for being good and steady !!!

So anyway, coming back to the present....this boy was getting more restless by the minute. He was fidgeting and making irritable noises. The boy wanted a particular hairstyle. He was telling the barber:

Boy: Uncle, I want to have this hairstyle, where my hair would stand like small prickly needles. Mom, tell uncle I want a haircut like akshay's !!

Boy's mother: No dear, Akshay's hair is only like that...it stands on its end...its natural. You have straight hair dear. You cannot have a cut like that.

Boy: Noooo....uncle, give me a haircut like I am telling you to !!

Barber: No beta....this cut looks good on you....dont do any hairstyles now. Do them when you are older and in college....right now listen to mom beta...

Boy: Nooo..nooo....nooo....

After his haircut was complete and the towel was removed....the boy's deliberately stamped his feet on the ground and huffed out of the saloon, his chubby cheeks red with anger at not getting the desired style !! His mom paid the money and hurried off after her son !!

Makes me want to say .....Kids, these days !! When we were young all we knew was that dad takes me to a barber's shop every month, where I have to sit and get my haircut. Once it was done...we were free to go.....the thought never crossed our minds as to how we'd look with this style....or with some other. 'Hairstyle' did not exist for us...we didnt know what that word meant. These days it seems otherwise. But then as my friend once said...Change is the only constant !!

Project Manager's prowess

I work for an engineering company.
These are 2 incidents which a project engineer told me about our project manager for a recently completed project..

Incident 1:
There was a vendor company in Hyderabad which was not releasing quite a few critically required documents to our company in time. These documents were well past the due date and the vendor company simply had not released them despite so many reminder calls and emails from our technical team. One day, our project manager got a call from the client to tell him to get it done quickly (I write this in soft terms...the client might have actually did more than just 'telling him to get it done quickly' by which I mean to say our project manager might have actually got a firing from the client.). Once the client's call was over the project manager called up XYZ (the vendor company's PM.)

Our project manager (PM): Hello...is this Mr. XYZ?

XYZ: Yes PM Sir !! How are you?

PM: Yeah, I am fine, ...Tell me...are there any 1 BHK flats available in Hyderabad?

XYZ (Was a bit puzzled..After all it was a topic totally different from the otherwise 'technical talk' ): Hmmm....Might be sir....Are you looking for flats in Hyderabad?

PM: Yeah 1 BHK mostly...How soon can you tell me?

XYZ must've started wondering whether PM had mistaken him for an estate agent !!

XYZ (mustve also started realising that something was wrong): Sir, I am sorry...but can you tell me how I can help you, please?

PM: Well, actually, I think I am going to be permanently transferred to Hyderabad by the client himself....Client thinks that I should come to Hyderabad and sit on your head to get those documents released, which they think would still require a lifetime.....

XYZ (There was a pause from XYZ...the statement had clearly left him midway between unpleasant shock, amusement and a disconcerting change of topics.):
I am sorry sir ....but...

PM (interrupting him): So thats why I was wondering whether I could buy a 1 BHK in Hyderabad....settle down there for the rest of my life....sit on your head and maybe then it'll take you maybe some less years to release the documents with my 'help'.

XYZ (Now fully understanding the gravity of the situation...): I am sorry sir, really very sorry....I'll get it done sir...those very documents will be sent by the end of this week....surely.....

PM: Ok...If they dont....please tell me if there are any 1 BHKs in Hyderabad...

XYZ (Trying to laugh valiantly): Hahaha...no sir...I assure you...it wont be delayed at all now...


The documents were at the PMs desk by that Thursday's evening !!


Incident 2:
The PM had sent a courier to the client's PM. The client is locally located The Client's PM called up 4 days later saying that the courier had not yet come. Again our PM got a firing and had to listen to stuff like...Is this how your company works? One courier has not reached on time....which courier company do you hire....etc etc...
When the PM set the phone down...he called the courier company through which the courier was being sent.

PM: Hello...XYZ courier services?

XYZ: Yes, How may I help you?

PM: My name is *** and I am speaking from ZZZ engineering company.

XYZ: Yes sir.

PM: Is there a job vacancy in your company?

XYZ (imagine his face): Ummm....Maybe sir...I'll have to check...Why do you ask sir?

PM: I think the client is going to get me fired from my company....because some papers were not sent to them on time. We sent those papers through your courier services...

XYZ: Sir....I understand sir....Its a dela..

PM: Since I am going to lose my job due to you....I thought maybe you should compensate by doing this small service to me and offering me a job in your courier company !! I think I could deliver a courier in 1 or 2 days at the most...hence doing a better job !!

XYZ: I am sorry sir....please give me the docket no. and I'll arrange to deliver it today itself...

PM: After you deliver that courier....please also send me an apology note from you...so that I can convince my client that it wasnt my fault !!

XYZ: Ok sir !!

The apology and delivery note were on the PMs desk by that very evening !!

Official trip to Netherlands - Groningen Part 3

Our office schedule was the same everyday. There is nothing much to say on the work front. When it comes to writing a post...I dont like to cover any details of that in the post. Anyway, thursday was shopping day !!! Most shops are open here till 8 PM on thursday and so as soon as we reached hotel after office, we dropped our office bags in the room and went off immediately with our shopping bags !! I shopped for a few souvenirs. And of course, we shopped for chocolates too !!! Chocolates were quite cheap in the Albert heijn market and we bought a lot of chocolates and some cheese too. I also went to a shop which sold only cheese. When I entered, I was most amazed to see hundreds maybe even thousands of variety of cheese. Each variety was neatly stacked in shelves. A full round 'wheel' of cheese looked like a big yellow tire. It just made you want to bite into it, as quickly and deeply as possible !! I was just so confused when I asked the shopkeeper....Would you happen to have a sort of 'assorted' packet of cheese? Shopkeeper: Nope, I dont have that...but you can have a few varieties on weight...maybe a 100 gms of each or so? Me: Mmmm...no...I think I'll buy just one of your recommendations...which one would you recommend? Shopkeeper: Well...lets see...you like to have one from pasteurized milk or normal.. Me: Normal. Shopkeeper: Strong or mild? Me: Medium...not too strong not too mild. Shopkeeper: Salty to taste or bland? Me: Well, on the saltier side.... Shopkeeper...All right then....here you go... He took out a cheese wheel from a nearby shelf....cut a slice....and sliced out a thinner slice for me to taste. I tasted it and it seemed to have a salty and slightly bitter taste...I liked it and bought 200 gms of it. He told me that it was 'beloga cheese'. Later I also bought some packed cheese from the supermarket. On friday, we said a final goodbye to our office colleagues. On saturday, we had a plane to catch in amsterdam at 10:30 and so we started off from Groningen at 6:00 AM in the morning. We reached Amsterdam at around 7:45 AM and after the usual baggage check in....shopped some more in the airport area in their famous 'SEE BUY FLY' duty free shopping area. The security check here was at the boarding gate. So once you go through the security check, you directly board the plane. The body scanning machine here was a sort of round glass enclosure. You had to step inside and then a glass panel would rotate around you and the round glass enclosure. I was forcibly reminded of the sci-fi movies where machines of similar design transformed humans into something else !! I told my friend that he would see a new ravi with superwings or something at the other end of the machine !!! After this we boarded the plane. Our journey was of 7 hours till Delhi. We reached Delhi at 10:30 PM at night where the outside temperature was an unpleasant 38 degrees celcius, at 10:30 PM in the night itself !! Our next plane was Delhi - Mumbai at 3:30 Pm which got cancelled and we got booking on a flight which left delhi at 7:00 AM the next day !!! Anyway...since there were 12 of us...we chatted a lot and had a lot of fun discussing funny incidents from the trip. It was one great trip afterall and hope there are many more like these to come !!!

Official trip to Netherlands - Groningen Part 2

On monday morning, we had an early breakfast at 7:00 AM and our cab was there to pick us up at around 7:30 AM. Its spring time in netherlands and one of the most amusing thing I find here is that the sun sets after 9 PM !!! Here it used to set at 9:30 PM and there used to be twilight till around 10:30 PM !!! There were days then I slept at 10:30 PM when there was evening light and woke up to bright sunlight which came as early as 5:00 AM in the morning !! So anyway, the cab left us to office...which was at a distance of around 30 Kms from our hotel. The office here was in a village called as Sappemeer. This was a farming village with a few big offices nearby. Our office here is in a nice spacious building with G+2 floors and a small canteen. Some tables are also laid outside, where people enjoy light sunshine in spring time !! There is a railway line beside the building compound and I was given a workplace which gave me a great view of passing trains !! The dutch people seem to have a slow style of working but never seem to sacrifice the quality of work done. The people in our office were a very helpful lot. We even asked them about Groningen and they were more than happy to tell us which places to see and which restaurants were good. First day in office was all about introductions and familiarization with people on the project, overview of the project and the agenda of the 5 day meeting. The first part was the most important as good communication is a must in any 'workshare' job. Life here is very slow as compared to life in a city like Mumbai. People seem to do what they like and its kind of hard to 'work hard' here. They seem to enjoy and work is just a smaller part of their life. Every evening we used to go around in Groningen. We went to the station (just to see how a dutch railway station and the trains there looked like and the intercity train fares to various cities..so that we would know...in case we go to groningen again), Martini tower (which is the tallest 'monument' in groningen), Harmsmeer lake (a nice quiet place with families and youngster enjoying the serenity of the lake.) We even took a round by one of the red light district lanes !! The latter most is the most interesting one to describe and might be most interesting to anyone who hasnt been there !! Me, jaggu and shashi ventured out one late evening. We were given the directions by our friend, naren.....who had frequented the place during the first four late evenings !! We followed his directions but missed a turn and went to Groningen station. When we were walking back, jaggu suggested that maybe naren had told us to turn in the wrong direction. So we went in the opposite direction and found it. From a distance we saw a lane with 'shops' with glass windows and red tubelights bordering the edges of the glass. Inside the 'shops' behind the windows were girls in two piece or bikinis. As we started walking down the lane, we looked at them. Some of them smiled and waved, some beckoned, some of them performed a short jig. It goes without saying that they were dressed to kill or 'undressed' to capture customers. On the whole, I would advise anyone travelling there to atleast go to the lane and have a look, just to know and see it for what it is, not alone, but with some people accompanying you. We did not feel unsafe or anything when we were walking down that lane but then it was a crowded thursday evening and then there is always an element of uncertainty when you are going anywhere for the first time, isnt it?

Official trip to Netherlands - Groningen Part 1

It was all rainy and fogged up as we landed here in amsterdam. However as our aircraft descended there was surprisingly no turbulence, quite typical of such foggy and rainy conditions. The pilot made a silky smooth landing and I bet that if anyone was sleeping at that time, he wouldnt have woken up !! Schipol is a spacious airport with 4 lounges (main waiting areas). It seems to be pretty much busy too. I think the reason for that would be that there are many connecting flights from Schipol to other parts of the world. We headed to passport control (immigration) where they asked us the usual questions. Q: Purpose of your visit? A: Business meeting. Q: What kinda business meeting? A: A scope identification sort of business meeting !! Q: Could you show me your invitation letter please? A: Yeah. Sure....here it is. The man looked at the invitation letter and looked impressed (Because the name of our company is quite famous apparently!!) "Hmm.... !!!" He said !! He immediately stamped my passport. All 14 of us, then picked up our baggage and assembled in the pickup area. The pickup fellow was there holding an identification board. He took us to the cabs waiting for us and helped us with our luggage. It was a good 2 hour drive from Amsterdam airport to Groningen. The distance between the two is approximately 253 Kms and so as per the math, the average speed was a fast 125 Km / hr !!! On the way, we enjoyed seeing the lovely dutch countryside. The fields here are stretched as far as the eye can see and the greenery is amazing. There was also a lot of cattle grazing in many of these fields. Netherlands is known for its dairy products like cheese. The dutch also harness a lot of wind energy, which is evident from the large no. of windmills that we saw along the way. We reached Groningen at around 10 AM local time here. Had the complimentary breakfast and went around to roam in groups of threes or fours (Our group for most of the time was me, Jaggu, VDP and SW from electrical). Groningen is a very quiet place. When we came here, it was as if we had come into a curfew area !! The receptionist told us that its because it was sunday and shops are closed and people too, sleep late into the morning, We were quite amused by this. She asked us on what day are shops closed in Mumbai? We told her that they are not closed on any day and are open till atleast 10 in the night !! It was her turn to be amused after that !!! After that we went out to roam around in Groningen, since our rooms would be ready after some time. Actually we just walked around just surveying what shops are there and where the eating places are as all of them were closed !! We saw a sort of 'Fun fair' area which was buzzing with activity when we went out later in the afternoon after returning to our hotel rooms and catching a short nap. We also saw a couple of subway outlets and macdonalds outlets which are open after 6 PM in the afternoon, meaning that we can go there to have our dinner meal !! Groningen has a lot of canals too and I saw a lot of people fishing as well.

We are the 'uncle' generation

Today we went to eat out at a restaurant. There were a lot of kids at the place. My friend spotted a kid who was playing with the window curtains. At the end of the curtains were these small 'pom poms'. The kid was taking great pleasure by hitting his dad around the head with these. From our side we took great pleasure in watching this scenario and laughing our asses off. The boy's dad didnt seem to mind and my friend RAA asked me, whether I ever....ever.... had the balls to hit my dad on the head or anywhere for that matter, playfully or forcefully whatsoever !! I replied in the negative and RAA commented that if he ever showed the kind of 'arrogance' the kid was showing....his dad would've trashed him to his right senses !!! Not that I mean to be an uncle lending out wise words...but it just so happens that things are quite different from what they were when we were kids. You might argue that how we were was different from what our parents were when they were young also...but again it so happens that we are closer in mannerisms and obedience traits with our earlier generation than the kids today will be with us. Our world was quite simple. Go to school, listen to the teachers, or dont listen to them, they yell at you, even hit you if you go to the extreme of 'misbehaving'. And then kids crying their eyes out. Either from the physical pain of the hit or from the prick of the conscience !!! Lessons in life were learnt this way. Come recess and it was time to play and eat our tiffins. Not many of us had money to buy from the canteen. We ate from our tiffins. Whenever we craved for change, we ate from other's tiffins !! It was common for teachers to pass the lid of a tiffin around in class, so that every one would put something in it....and give it to a kid who had forgotten his. When school was over, we went home, ate whatever food mom gave us and went out to play. It was outdoor games all the time in the evening. We didnt sit in front of PS2s and xboxes all evening, although we might have enjoyed some afternoon sessions of video games and computer games, during summer holidays at someone who was 'privileged' enough to own a nintendo, atari or a sony 'box'. For those familiar with the TV games terminology, a 10 in 1 game cartridge used to cost around 200 bucks and the ones who had these games had to beg their parents for a new cartridge...who in turn used to tell them, how lucky they were to get the box itself and how one should be satisfied with the existing games that were bought for them. After the evening outdoor games like cricket, football, kho kho, catch and cook, poison medicine, hide and seek etc., we went home and had our dinner. My dad used to come late and when he did come home, he used to wear a very 'forbidding' look on his face. That look on his face was enough to drive us to our obedient best. The memory of that face was enough to scare us, whenever mom threatened to tell our 'deeds' to dad when we had misbehaved anytime during the day !!! We respected our parents and sure as hell, we were scared of them too !! At night we slept, comfortable with the knowledge that our parents were the world for us, and would keep us secure. There was no 'strong sense of independence' the kids of today have !! We were simple as kids, ready to be led in this big bad world, by our parents. After reliving all these memories, it seems almost unbelievable, that this kid had the 'audacity' to hit his father playfully !!!

Life in a Roller coaster !!

Recently went to Esselworld amusement park. Had a lot of fun...sat a lot of rides. Ones that go up and down...
ones that take you to the top of the world...
ones that make you go round and round....
ones that splash you with water....

The best part for me, will always be...the roller coasters...Exciting little rail carts...make you scream and shout...and give you a thrill of a lifetime...initially you are full of anticipation as the cart slowly starts of...then you are full of awe...at the height it gains....you start to wonder when it'll start giving you the thrill. Meanwhile it reaches its apex...you see the rails in front of you....declining sharply...the car seems to pause for a moment....and then....you r never prepared for what happens next...the coaster plunges down at breakneck speed and takes the following incline with equal speed.....you feel the exhilaration and can barely stop yourself from screaming....from excitement...of fear, of pure adrenaline rush or 'simply' from the odd unrecognized feeling of extremeness that it gives you !!.
The coaster then quietens down again....then thunders down another loop...darts around on a banked circle...zips past a loop...in which you're going to go round and upside down....comes to a top point again...and then just when you start feeling that the ride is getting old now ....it plunges down again....but the loop is ahead....so instead of slowing down after its plunge....it accelerates terrifically and takes you inside the loop and turns you upside down and right side up again....it happens so fast that you hardly have time..... to feel scared or to get used to it.
Either case...at the end of the ride you decide that it was so much fun....that you should ride it again !!!
Roller Coasters offer you the enthralling opportunity of going at speeds which are not possible when you are driving a car, or riding a bike. Bikes and cars can be driven fast...but of course, more than the thrill.......speed kills there...
In a coaster, the force of so many gravities means that you are 'almost' sitting in a fighter plane.

I had so much fun....that I have vowed to go to as many amusement parks as possible and sit on many roller coasters !!!

Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 4

After relaxing in the hotel for two days....going to the beach, taking walks just outside the hotel, sitting down in the room watching tv, romancing, eating pizzas for lunch......it was time for the saturday outing of 'Blue Safari Submarine'. Our group was taken to the motherboat of the submarine by another motor driven boat. We boarded the submarine through the top hatch by a ladder. The submarine had seats two in a row !! The 'cockpit' was a cramped space where buttons, displays, gauges, levers were mounted. The 'pilot' climbed in and all of us cheered him with a whoop of 'yeah !!' There were round windows along the sides of each seat. When we first climbed into the submarine we saw the hull of the motherboat since the submarine was attached to the motherboat.
After the 'pilot' explained the tour and the controls of the submarine in brief...the submarine took off. The submarine ride was smooth and it was like a turbulence free plane ride !! We saw many colourful fish and undersea life !! The pilot took us close to a barrier reef which is a undersea mountainous formation of corals. We were also taken to a shipwreck. The pilot explained that the mauritians dont sell old ships in scrap. Instead they purposely sink ships. The ships become breeding grounds for undersea plants which becomes food for the fishes and hence helps in preserving undersea life !! At the end of 35 minutes, we were taken up again. As the submarine rose, the sunlight being refracted through the waters created the impression that the surface of the waters was golden !! It was beautiful and can hardly be described. We were given some refreshments and were taken back to the shore. The shore area belonged to a hotel. The hotel had a big lobby opening out into its restaurant facing the sea !! It had a few sovenir shops where we picked up more sovenirs. We were taken back to our hotel. We picked up some bags of crisps and chocolate bars, which was our lunch for the day !! (The submarine ride was at 2:30 PM and it was 4 by the time we came back to shore. The driver was not ready to stop for lunch as he had to report back at 5:30 PM max). At dinner, we were given our special candle light dinner, which was a part of our holiday package !! The candle light dinner was on an outdoor table. They gave us special heart shaped pastries !!
The next day we were to depart mauritius. In the morning we did kayaking in the waters of our hotel's beach !! After this we had pizza once again !! The private cab driver dropped us to the hotel, where we spent time having coffee and window shopping in mauritius airport shopping area. We reached mumbai airport at around 3:30 AM in the morning, took a prepaid cab and came home at around 5 AM. It was good to see aai and baba....they had missed us more than we had missed them of course !! We were totally lost in each other and in the lovely country of mauritius !!

Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 3

The next day, it was the island tour. 'Ile Aux Cerfs' is an island near the east coast of Mauritius. We were first taken to the tourist centre on the mainland, where we paid another 900 MUR for a speed boat ride around the island and to the waterfalls. The Speed Boat ride was very thrilling. I'll always remember the boat rider !!
A casually smart looking black man. A holiday T-shirt and bermudas and a pair of cool shades. He was quite muscly and was talking happily with his girlfriend. He had a stereo on the speed boat, with the hip local mauritian music, which was fun to listen to and perfect for the fast boat ride !!! The speed boat took us around the island and through a sort of canyon to a waterfall, which fell off a low cliff. It was here that we saw monkeys....real ones, of course...not the ones we see everyday !!!
After this the speed boat took us to a platform. This was the launching platform for the parasail. Each of the couples were harnessed to a parasail. It was a double harness where the girl was harnessed in the front of the boy, so that he could control the direction of the parasail. The guide there taught us how to control...It is easy to pick up but hard to do....really requires all the power of your arms if you want to move yourselves sharply to the left or the right. After checking our harness, the guide signalled to the speed boat rider (the speed boat to which our parasail was tied) to go ahead. The speed boat accelerated and pulled at the ropes taking us up into the air with sheer speed !! It made our adrenaline rush and we whooped for joy !!! We were up in the air by around 50 metres in a matter of just 3 seconds !! After being airborne for around 5 minutes, the speed boat lined us I made a landing which would make pilots proud of me !!!
From here we were taken by another slow motor driven boat to the island. As we were halfway there, it started raining !!! It gave us a great chance to be chivalrous....to our better half ....and of course... to our cameras too !!! I quickly threw a big plastic over vrunda's head and also covered the camera !!! Once we touched the shore...our new boat rider didnt even bother to help us out of the rocking boat !! He jumped out of the boat and scampered to the shelter as soon as possible, leaving us all behind !!! We helped each other out...Vrunda and me did not bother to run after that as we were dripping wet anyway !! We walked along the shoreline to where our group had assembled. Our guide there told us to be back by around 3:00 PM to catch our boat home. On the island we first changed into dry clothes. The island was like one big party venue !! Speed boats, cruisers, sailboats were anchored along a sand bar and the beach. Some boats were arriving...On one boat the people on were singing and partying. As soon as the boat shored, the people whooped for joy !! We took a walk to the edge of the sandbar. Me through the water and vrunda through the sands as she had had enough of being wet !! After this little walk we went to an indian restaurant where we had non veg thalis. The restaurant was a nice place. Each table was on a sort of 'machan' - an elevated platform supported by 4 poles. After our lunch we roamed around more and had ice cream !! After this it was almost time to go back. So we went to the assembly point where we met our group. It started raining again and we took shelter near the boatshed. When the rain stopped our guide pointed us to the speedboat which was supposed to take us back. We climbed aboard and very soon were zooming towards the mainland. It was drizzling pleasantly now and it was pleasant after the bright sunshine !! Our bus took us back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the day chilling out on the beach chairs and having dinner !!

Honeymoon in Mauritius - Part 2

On reaching the hotel, we were welcomed by a lady named 'Sidney'. Sidney had a very french accent. She asked us to fill up a form. After we filled up the form, we were asked to give a copy of our 'wedding CORD'. Atleast that was the way I heard it !!
I've been to the states and spoken to people with British and Chinese accent of English but the french one was new and I had to ask the lady 3-4 times before I finally understood that 'CORD' was actually card. Realising it, was, of course, another shock as throughout the booking of our trip we'd never been told that we would be asked for proof of our marriage at the hotel. Luckily, I had the wedding card scanned and had uploaded it up on my gmail. Another good thing was that I had my 'Galaxy Smartphone' ....I connected to the Wi-fi and sent it to the hotel email ID. We had reached the hotel at around 12 noon and the check in time was 2 P.M. However we were given the room at around 1:15 PM...thank god for that !! From 12 noon to 1:15 P.M we went for a tour of the hotel.
The hotel had its own beachfront, a lovely swimming pool adjoining a bar overlooking the white sands of the beach and blue ocean waters !!!
After checking in and settling down...we went for our proper 'Lunch' (Before that we had mom's home made 'chivda'). Lunch was pizza....well made and a very wholesome meal.
We went to our rooms, freshened up and napped a bit. At 3:45 P.M, a gentleman called 'Fardeen' showed up to plan our activities for our week of stay. Fardeen was one of those guys who love to show the world that they're 'simply cool'. He had his 'brochuurresss' ready and at hand...and explained all the couples, the day tours and the activities and water sports he had to offer and the prices. Each couple selected their favourites. We picked up...Parasailing and the Blue safari submarine. After this we spent some more time in our rooms.......resting. As the evening came, it was a great joy to see the sunset on the horizon and watching the sun drown its acrylic colours in the blue waters and then enjoy the light cool breeze, whilst sitting on the beach chairs and enjoying the romantic star show !!!

The next day, it was the south island tour. This included...
the glass factory...which was rubbish,
the diamond factory...there was no factory to be frank!!
The dead volcano...this was just a crater with lot of volcanic ash solidified...The mountain had a good view, however !!
The 7 coloured earth of the chamarel ...you really can see the 7 colours...we have taken lots of photos here and near the sleeping volcano !!
The sovenir shops....where we shopped for some sovenirs.
The ship building factory...Lovely....real masterpieces...and real attention to detail...there were lot of wooden ship models, for display and sale. Price ranges starting from 700 MUR to 100000 MUR !!
This was a total standout tourist site in the south island tour...real amazing....

We were also shown the Shiva Temple of Mauritius. Our tour guide said, "Billa, pata hai? India kaa Billa.....woh mauritius ko donation deta hain.' Till now, I had become quite familiar with the French accent of the locals and understood that 'Billa' means Mr. Birla....Mr Aditya Birla contributes a lot to Mauritius and has made a temple in mauritius. The shiva temple has a 105 metre statue of Lord Shiva, which however does not have a 'damroo' in his hand !!!

We had lunch in an Indian cuisine restaurant....both me and Vrunda had a veg thali at 400 MUR.

We were dropped at the hotel at around 5:30 PM after which we had a great time relaxing on the beachside again !!

Honeymoon in mauritius - Part 1

The planning stage was an intense research in geography, geology and economics...by this i mean we travelled (in our visions and day dreams) to many parts of asia, exploring our options of destinations...mountains, beaches and monumental city wonders and considered the budget of our trip. After all this..it was a wonder that we selected mauritius...quite a 'standard' honeymoon destination !! A bit expensive in terms of 'standard'...but still quite a favourite amongst honeymoon couples. Mauritius it was....a small island near the coast of eastern africa...
We had been looking forward to this trip ever since it was planned back in September. We were scheduled to depart from Mumbai on the 28th Nov morning. It was a 0400 hrs flight in the morning, and after checking in and the security checks, we were at the waiting lounge near the boarding gates. As expected there were many honeymoon couples, so from there itself, getting 'intimate'!! There was a slight hiccup while boarding, where my wife had forgotten a tag on her purse. We had to go back to the security counter to get ones, as the idiots at the gates didnt have any.
It was Vrunda's first time in flight and it was most amazing for her to experience the exhilarating acceleration and takeoff and the slightly bumpy landing of the plane.
Mauritius airport is known 'Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport'named after one of the famous prime ministers. As soon as we got off, we were directed to the visa counters. Mauritius has a visa-on-arrival system for Indians. The visa process was extremely quick. We just had to present our passports and our hotel booking vouchers. The visa was stamped and we were 'Welcome to mauritius' as told by the counter officer !!
As soon as we collected our baggage, we were outside, where there were currency exchange counters, where we purchased some 14000 mauritian rupee (MUR). There was a slight confusion as we waited at a counter no. 7, where the agency representative who was supposed to pick us up, had not arrived. Moreover counter no. 7 bore the name of a different travel agency !! After a bit of 'asking around' we came to know that the pick up guy would be waiting outside the airport at the arrival gates. As we walked outside the agent with the board checked our names on his list and introduced us to a cab driver who would drive us to our hotel. The cab driver was a tall fellow. It was difficult to tell his origin. He had a mixture of south Indian and south american looks. The people in mauritius are a mix. Indians (Biharis), south americans, french, africans. The locals speak a language called 'creole' which is a mix of the indian language 'bhojpuri' and french. While we were being driven to the hotel, I noticed that the weather seemed to be tropical, however the air seemed to be fresh and the skies were a lovely blue lined with a few scattered clouds, which looked like cotton. The roads were good, rules were being followed, generally and it was very clean. Our resort 'The Jalsa Beach resort and Spa' was at a place called 'Poste Laffayette. Looking out of the window was a treat by itself. The scenery and the landscapes were so beautiful...that i could not quite bring myself to face the fact that my video camera has limited memory and cannot record the entire hour of our travel !! So i recorded a video and then sat back to relax and just watch the beauty of nature with lenses of my eyes and record it in my own memory !! After an hour of driving we came to a slightly inclined road..beyond which nothing could be seen...as our car went further and reached the apex...it was a sight which i can probably never forget...a vast and deep blue shoreline was clearly visible...lined with white sands and waves swirling and twisting in a foam to meet the sands...Very soon we reached our hotel.