Links to some Memorable Trips and Excursions!

GanpatiPule+Raigarh March 2k7

http://picasaweb.google.com/riteshganeriwal/TripToRaigadGanapatiPule

Nighoj (90 km from Pune) Dec 2k6

http://picasaweb.google.com/riteshganeriwal/NighojTrip

Goa March-Apr 2k6

http://picasaweb.google.com/riteshganeriwal/GoaTrip

Yahoo! Platform Team Outing ! May 19 2k6

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swaroop_krishnamurthy/sets/72057594143260308/

Haridwar, Rishikesh , Dehradoon , Musoorie

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2117762097&mode=guest

I need to find and update the links !!!

Perfect is not always best

You Are 71% Perfectionist

You are a true perfectionist. You are both demanding of yourself and others. While it's great to have goals and standards, they don't need to be sky high!

Are You a Perfectionist?

Y! Platform Engg Team Outing - May 19, 2006

The eagerly awaited team outing for Platform Engineering team finally made headway as we started at 6.30 am from MG Road office for Wonder Valley, Bangalore. Wonder Valley is about 25 Kms from Bangalore, in the backdrops of Bannerghatta National Park. The facilitating company for the day was OZONE India.
The team for the day comprised Swamy, Swaroop, Badi, Varun, Senthil, Hemang, Dorai, Nikhil, Srinidhi, Rohit, Girija, Praveen and me, all set to have a blast.

On our arrival, we were treated to a sumptuous breakfast in a hut like enclave. The majestic Eucalyptus, Silk Cotton, Silver Oaks trees provided a charismatic view with the criss-cross of sun rays trying to make its mark on the ground. Ravi ( from team OZONE ) was to be our co-ordinator for the day which he promised to be nothing short of being exhilirating.

The warm-up session began with some stupid exercises, fun games and formation of wierd circles - like the chicken soup circle. We played structure games in which we needed to enact an Elephant, a Giraffe or a rabbit with the adjacent person on either side of the performer required to form the missing legs and ears, appropriate to the animal being enacted. Confusion ensued and sometimes rabbit got Elephant's ears and elephant got giraffe legs - leading to a laughter riot.
In the end, this little session energized us for the tougher activities of the day.

It was time for some group activity and the stage was set to apply brains and power in the Dynamic Obstacle Course - a short course on ground defined in 3 stages, that involved crossing or negotiating through fixed obstacles successfully, as an entire team. The two teams ( Me, Praveen, Swamy, Varun, Nikhil, Srinidhi, Rohit Vs Swaroop, Badi, Senthil, Hemang, Girija, Dorai ) started at the opposite ends. We were given some resourses ( ropes, bamboo etc ) and a baby ( a container half filled with water - quite a heavy baby to carry ). Each team needed to get to the other end without setting a foot on the ground and transporting the baby unharmed ;-).
We started at the easier end and pushed ourselves fast to the 2nd stage while Swaroop's team still negotiated the first. But our strategy was soon proved wrong as fast movers Swaroop and Dorai quickly made it into the second stage and we needed to negotiate with them as we got stuck on high grounds getting out of which required mutual co-operation. The two teams helped each other getting through the innovative bamboo track six feet above the ground. It was a dangerous path and one wrong foot meant restarting the stage.Leaping and swinging in full flow, both the teams advanced to the 3rd stage but the easier course for the other team proved disastrous for us and we lost by seconds. Still, we knew the ground reality as to who the real innovators were :D ! Lime water was served quenching our thirst as we felt a bit dehydrated.

The next task on hand was to save the world of nuclear bombs planted all around the world with triggers located in a house of Death. The triggers ( 30 of them ) were to be diffused ( tapped ) in chronological order inside 50 seconds. Each team had just 3 chances after which the triggers would set and the the whole world would be destroyed. Nikhil's team started first and they messed it up pretty fast, while we found it hard finding the numbers and could manage only 15 triggers in the first attempt. Second chance ( 40 seconds ) also saw both teams faltering and making silly goof-ups. Third and the last chance ( 30 seconds ) - Nikhil's team went in first and managed to tap all 30 triggers, but they took more than a minute. Now the onus of saving the universe from perishing lay in our hands and we did not disappoint the world. It was an act of co-ordination and determined concentration ( hats off to our team ).

After a courteous lunch around 2, we played some volley before the much anticipated Wall Climbing stunts. The artificial structure looked huge and the knuckles seemed not too deep to give a solid footing. Six levels to the summit, the hike looked improbable. But no amount of difficulty could dampen our spirits as one after the other valiant attempts were made. Some made no more than one level up while Rohit and Srinidhi could touch the third level. At its most primitive, climbing is a “neuro-muscular” activity and each attempt left our fingers more numb and our bodies more consumed. Swamy did a morale boosting climb to the second level for the teams dying spirits and Varun gave a false (read funny) pose of clutching the knuckles and ascending the wall.

After more fun games in the form of untanglings and knee-walks, the highlight activity of the day was finally at hand. In Raft building each group had the task of constructing or building a floating device with the resources provided to them, such that it can carry 5-6 people on it in water at any given time. It was a test of creativity for both the teams as the rough interface (skeleton) of the raft was designed. We (me, Senthil, Rohit, Hemang, Girija, Badi) went in for early aggression and tried to make the raft as simple and durable with minimum resources. While Senthil started blowing up the floaters, we tied the ropes with deft imagineering. It took us no more than 30 minutes to launch our alpha version into the pacific ocean which we needed to cross. The raft looked fragile and once Hemang went on top, it sunk from his end. The alpha version failed, but thats how we learn from mistakes. Varun's team (Varun, Swaroop, Srinidhi, Nikhil, Dorai, Swamy, Praveen) was still fiddling around with bamboo sticks and ropes. They were so scared of high waters that they required 6 floaters and also a 6-6 bamboo configuration as opposed to our simple 4-6 one.

Nonetheless, we quickly fixed the bug and the beta version sustained a rough test course. But one of the floaters soon gave in to extra pressure from Hemang and this required emergency rescue operations for the boat. This time we had to be sure, no more loopholes would be tolerated and we were ready to go racing. The other team could manage to get their raft ready only after half an hour. In a real race scenario, they had already lost. The other raft looked more sturdy and had more manpower to manoeuvre the course. It was neck to neck as both the teams touched the opposite bank. We turned first and looked comfortable but Varun's team had already mastered the art of rowing and they soon started to catch up. More gallant efforts led to catastrophic results as the floater on Hemang's side could no longer hold on. Half submerged and crippled, we did not give up and continued rafting braving the high tides with renewed vigour. Their was a sense of urgency and though we lost by inches Hemang was the first to get back to the starting point - swimming all the way back from the point where the raft had broken in mid sea.

We laid to rest the carcasses of the raft and attacked the other raft for some photo session and a ride to the open waters. We sailed to a far distance and mused over the sunset. With the life jackets on, most of us dived into the lake water. Praveen, Swaroop, me, Girija, Srinidhi, Badi and Ravi ( our guide ) were part of this exciting journey in which we swam to our hearts content. All fears of water had gone as everyone displayed their swimming stunts from freestyle to backstroke.Me, Nikhil and Swaroop swam while the rest rowed back in the raft. It was a damn tiresome exercise and most of us were almost weared out.

After a light shower, we bid goodbye to Ravi and team OZONE for the amazing day and headed back home with Badi, Nikhil and Varun providing good humour about the days proceedings and mini fights as to which team was best. In all, it was a heart pulsating trip and a lot better than boring resort outings where you do no more than laze around or play the usual games like TT or pool. The outing brought us together as a team and there were plenty of lessons to be learnt from.
Definitely worth a try !
`Enjoii !

PS: Snaps uploaded here.

TIME TRAVELLING ! - Can you go back in time and kill your own grandfather ?

This is one topic which has fascinated me immensely ever since I read the supplement KnowHow in the wednesday edition of THE TELEGRAPH. Time travel has been a much debated and talked about concept and it feels good to put some glyphs together in front of you.

Lets say you have a time-machine. You send a pool-ball through it, with a speed and angle such that it goes a few seconds, perhaps not even seconds, into the past, hit itself, thereby changing the course of it "old" self. What will happen?

Answer: It will hit its "old" self, but not so much that it will prevent itself from going through the time-machine. And why is that? Because when it comes to timetravels, the present is not, as it normally is, just dependent of the past. It is also dependent of the future. That gives, if the ball HAS hit the time-machine, that fact cannot be altered by the ball itself. Because the ball would have to have hit the time-machine to change that fact. And if it already has hit it, that cannot be redone. That is also why you cannot go back in time to kill your own mother before you were born. But that's explained further down.

What if the ball was sent in one direction, between the time-machine and the place where it would appear after it had traveled through time? This situation is drawn here.

Here are two possible answers. 1st: It would be hit by its "old" self, thereby changing course so that it would hit the time-machine and go back in time to hit itself in the present. 2nd: It could go straight forward, and not be hit by itself.
It's kinda like the quantum-mechanics. The theory of quantum-mechanics says that there is a certain PROBABILITY for where the electrons around the protons of an atom are. You cannot know for sure where the electrons are. The same with the ball. You cannot know for sure which of the situations 1st of 2nd will happen before you can measure it. And, frankly, it's at present impossible to make such a time-machine.

Though in theory, it is possible to make time-machines, due to Einsteins Theory of Relativity.

How to make a Time-Machine
Assume you know exactly the locations of a worm-hole's two entrances. Then you place a very heavy, large mass at the one end of it. According to Einstein, time goes slower the more mass is present. That means that on one side of the worm-hole, the time will go slower than on the other side. When you have reached the time difference you wish, you remove the heavy mass, and travel through the worm-hole from the other side. Now you have gone back in time. When you have accomplished your mission in the past, you can go the other way, and you're back in the present. But don't try to kill your own grandfather.

Well, in fact, you could try just that. You take a gun, seek your grandfather(before he'd had a chance to produce babies, put the gun to his head and pull the trigger. You wouldn't succeed. This is kind of the same problem as with the pool-ball. Since you are alive, you cannot kill him, because then you would never be born, and never be able to go back in time to kill him. Again we see that when traveling through time, future as much as the past have influence over the present. Since you were born, your grandfather cannot be killed. Something would have to go wrong. You live, thereby so does your grandfather.

It would be a great way to eradicate all people you don't like though. Go back in time, kill their parents before the ones you don't like are born, and they won't exist in the present. Since you was not born at the time, you wouldn't be held responsible if you got back to your own time again.

Then an interesting problem arise. What if you change your mind? Could you go back to kill yourself before you killed the parent? Let's see. You would be able to kill the parent in the first place. Then that already would have happened in the present. If you shoot yourself in the past, you would not be able to go to the past to shoot yourself. That is out of the question. Not possible. But what if you tried to convince yourself about not killing the parent? You would know it was possible to travel through time. So you would perhaps believe yourself when you said you came from the future. And perhaps you would listen, perhaps not. I cannot see any reasons why it shouldn't be possible to convince yourself otherwise. Can you?

But one thing you cannot do is meet yourself as you were back then. Well, you could. But then you would know that in the future you would have to go back to visit yourself in the past. And since you haven't met yourself yet, you know that you won't be traveling back in time in the future to see yourself being born or anything. If you would like to do that...[-_^]

How far can you go?
How far backward is it possible to go? That actually, is kind of tricky. You actually couldn't go back further than until the first time-machine were made. Because: To make a time-machine, you would have to put a large mass at the one end of a worm-hole. Then time would go slower there. But it would not go backward. Perhaps you could put such a great mass there that it would stop time. But if you did that the 1st of June 2006, that would always be the date of that side of the wormhole. So you wouldn't be able to go back further than 1st of June 2006. Too bad, eh?

But how far forward is it possible to go. Again, you place the mass, and go through back in time to the 1st of June 2006. Time there isn't changing. (Just how that would feel, I'm not certain of, but never mind that here.) You stay there for a period that on the other side of the wormhole is of length 20 days, then you go back. You would have traveled 20 days into the future. That OK. But what if you stayed on the other side of the wormhole for about 20 billion years. If the universe are widening forever, that would perhaps not be a problem. You would be sent 20 billion years forward in time. Well, earth wouldn't be anymore, because in about 5 billion years the sun will envelope earth when dying. But perhaps you could find another place to live. But if the universe are imploding again after 15 billion years, then what would happen? You would suddenly be out of the space-time-dimension. Is that possible? I don't know. Perhaps this is a way to travel out of our universe. Then again, if the universe is no more, the wormhole wouldn't exist either, and you wouldn't be able to go forward again. Perhaps you would just vanish. Who knows?

Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India.

Dream, Dream, Dream
Dream transform into thoughts
And thoughts result in action.

Motivating India's people, and its youth especially, is the central theme of Ignited Minds, which continues the trajectory of thoughts from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's earlier books, Wings Of Fire and India 2020: A Vision for the New Millenium. Dr Kalam spurs us on so that India turns into a developed nation by the year 2020.
Having relied on the power and potential of youth all through his career in the field of technology and its management, he is sure given the freedom to achieve and guided properly, we, the young blood of India can accomplish far more and craft a perfect future enviable to the very best.
His quest has taken him to schools, the country side, ashrams and other places. The vast untouched natural resources, untapped mineral wealth and unattended biodiversity show the enormous potential of our country and the unforeseen challenges that are dawning in.

Where are we making a mistake? What is it that we as a nation are missing? For at the heart of Ignited Minds is an irresistible premise: the people of a nation have the power, by dint of hard work, to realize their dream of a truly good life. Dr Kalam stresses that there seems to be an attitude problem as if we cannot shake ourselves out of the mindset of limited achievement. The book is all about breaking away from the forces that would prefer us to remain a nation of a billion people selling cheap labour and raw material and providing large market for goods and services of other nations.

He stimulates us to 'Start Moving', lead the country into prosperity through innovative entrepreneurship. Ignited Minds is about developing that 'winning conviction' in ourselves and discard things that hold us back. He stresses so much on building technologies indeginously rather than being subsurvient to other countries. He compares the lifetime of a country to that of a man as described by Dr Wayne W Dyer in his book Manifest Your Destiny. It passes through a set of stages starting from the athlete stage (a nation fresh from an independence struggle), warrior stage (proud of achievement, it demonstrates its power), big brother stage (helping others become better) and finally a stage where nation understands its true essence - The realization stage.What we require is spirituality integrated with education. What is spirituality to a school going kid? Spirituality has many forms and Dr Kalam speaks of its simplest kinds - humanity, brotherhood, compassion.

We require role models, visionaries who can inspire and motivate us to give our best. Mother, Father and elementary school teachers play a very important part as role models. When we grow up, the role models change to national leaders of quality and integrity.
It was heartening to read so many instances when young children asked Dr Kalam questions which a normal person might never give a thought about.

One was: 'Why cannot water from the Brahmaputra, which is in flood much of the time, be diverted to Rajasthan or Tamil Nadu which are starved of water?'
'Who is our enemy ?' - POVERTY (said a girl studying in class 12 to whom Dr. Kalam has dedicated this book) . It is the root cause of our problems and should be the object of our fight, not our own.

What we need today is to home-grow our own model of development based on our inherent strengths. Emerging technologies like telemedicine and e-commerce can greatly help in accessing remote areas.The most important and urgent task before our leadership today is to get all the forces for a constructive change together and deploy them in a mission mode. The second vision envisaged by Dr Kalam is to bring about a renaissance to the nation in the hands of visionary leadership.

Dr Kalam remembers the ancient India which was knowledge society and contributed greatly to the civilization. He wants to bring about a revolution of constructuve thinking and foresees a knowledge society by 2010 which would supplant all negative thoughts and failures with the spirit of victory.
One of the most impressive personality traits of Dr Kalam is visible after his miraculous escape in a helicopter crash. He is unperturbed by the incident and instead talks about the vast untapped natural resources of Jharkhand and how the new formed state can utilize its potential to the very best. The villages integration plan proposed by Dr Kalam also proves his simple and logical approach. His model 'involves selecting a ring of villages; connectng the villages on the ring by a high quality transport and telecommunication system;encouraging reputed specialists to locate schools, hospitals and other social services around the ring'.

For India 2020, five areas have been identified where India has core competance for integrated action. These include agriculture and food processing, power, education and healthcare, IT and the strategic sector. Dr Kalam reiterates the need for a knowledge society. Today, in terms of overall GDP, India is twelfth; in terms of GDP per capita, we are fifty-seventh. He questions if this status acceptable to us ? Especially to the young ?
Dr Kalam also gives a strong example in which a US company refused to supply the berrillium diaphragms to India on security grounds. Technology was denied and it emerged that India had the largest deposit of berillium ore. It was processed by Japan and then exported to US for production. Where was our sense of initiative ? Berrillium export was henceforth stopped. India is held as a poor nation inspite of its enormous wealth because it does not focus on value addition.

Personally, the most inspiring part of Dr Kalam's book was from the following lines:
'I realized then that if something is at stake, the human mind gets ignited and working capacity gets enhanced manifold. Challenges throw up opportunites. Once one selects a task, one should get immersed in it. Either you will succeed or fail; that risk will always be there. This should not deter you. when you fail, you still have the experience gained to draw upon in the future.
Start by risking your own position for a mission. Either I deliver or I go. Prepare yourself for the endeavour. With effort and perseverance you will succeed'.

I have never seen or heard of a greater patriot in the modern world than Dr Kalam. His love and pride for India is boundless. He has travelled thousands and thousands of miles addressing the young to start dreaming and aim higher. His 'India can do it' spirit reinforces confidence and motivates us to transform India into a developed nation with a will to work hard and armed with technology, knowledge and love for our nation.

'I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning to achieve the vision - Developed India.'

Its Better In Goa [-_^]

So the much hyped Goa trip finally happened and it turned out nothing short of being a stupendous experience ! The initial hiccups caused due to the unavailablity of two much anticipated company(Junnu and Gouraj) from BITS somehow succumed and we started off our 14 hour Bus Journey to Panjim - The heart Of Goa !!!

Akhil, Anurag, Kallu, Joe ,Rathi , CP and me comprised the Bang Gang !!! Surana was the lone warrior all the way from Kota-Rajasthan ( I can just bow down for that kinda enthu man ) and how can I forget the great one - Sandheer ( without his plans we would have only dreamt of Goa ) joining us from Pune ! The Goa beaches only beckoned this PS-II re-union.
The Bus Journey never felt tiring with Salaam Namaste and DUS (actually paanch coz they showed just half of it ) screened back to back.While the whole Bus slept , Mr CP starts his cell-phone conversation at the top of his voice ( bloody khud ko neend nahi aayi to pure Bus ki neend uda di ! ).It went something like this -" Bus mein Sab so rahe hai ! Mereko neend nahi aa rahi. Abe rathi tu soya hua hai kya....le Dhavish se baat kar ".I am sure the whole Bus must have be cursing him at that moment.Next morning we reached Panjim . Sandheer and Mahaveer soon joined us !

DAY 1 - Thursday
(Panjim - Miramar beach, BITS-Pilani Goa Campus, Majorda Beach Resort )

First task at hand was to hire bikes and with one Pulsar, one Splendor, one Passion and two Activas' - we were ready to loose control. After lodging in a flat ( Hotels can be a bit expensive ) , we headed for Miramar beach. It was a lovely golden beach of soft sand griddled with palm trees facing the blue Arabian Sea and some of us already hit the coastline with utmost vigour. Akhil dedicated his specs to the Arabian Sea and started cribbing but we soon convinced him specs are not required everywhere ;)

Our next destination of the Day was BITS-Pilani Goa Campus. It was a 30+ km journey from Panjim , and I felt on top of the world throughtout the way riding Activa for the very first time. Amidst the lush green meadows, hills and valleys, the sea and panoramic view of picturesque surrounding encompassing Zuari River, this charm and beauty sets the right ambience for Goa Campus. Comparing with BITS-Pilani, I must say Goa wins hands down. The centrally air-conditioned classrooms, the covered Pathways connecting hostels to the main building, the PVR class Auditorium (seating capacity of 2500 -To be inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister on 6th May,2006) mesmerized us. With just 2 batches, the campus just needs more students to set the right mood. We also met Prof. Bharat Deshpande, who gave us a warm welcome and showed us around the Computer Center and the Library. In the end, I can say we felt at home after a long time and the campus re-enlightened the togetherness feeling.

This was not end of the day as we squeezed in more activity in the nearby Majorda beach,made famous by the resort of the same name. We wasted no time in getting wet. The sand here was quite rough and Anurag, CP were soon left with bruises on their knees. But this did not dampen our spirits and we braved the waves with more defiance,gulping down more salt water and still standing tall with each passing splash.

It was getting dark, and our guide ( Akhil ) was to led us out of this secluded beach resort. In the criss-cross of roads, confusion ensued and the guide ordered us to take the road to nowhere. Our Activa (Me and Anu) refused to obey and we decided we can use our own brains to find the right path. Soon we crossed the railway tracks and reached Verna to catch NH17 back to Panaji. Best part was when CP calls us up and asks if we are going in the right direction, and I replied - "we are already in Panaji" :D. All the 4 bikes had followed the guide only to reach a dead end and a Haunted Mansion with a U-turn of death.

Day 2 - Friday
(Old Goa, Aguada Fort, Sinquerin Beach, Calungute Beach Shack Stay, Blue Club Disc )

We checked out of the flat ( Sea Homes ) around 9.30 am. and headed towards Old Goa. Here we got into one of the famous cathedrals in Goa, called 'Se Cathedral'. It had some impressive paintings and art works inside. Being the largest church in Old Goa, this church is built in 16th century. The building style is Portuguese - Gothic with a Tuscan exterior and Corinthian interior. Took lots of Orkut Snaps in and around the Cathedral and after visiting one more Church/Cathedral ( dont remember exactly coz I was busy spotting some foreign babe ;) we reached Aguada Fort in the afternoon.

Aguada Fort (recently acquired fame for featuring in Dil Chahta Hai) provides a fantastic view of the sea and the adjoining areas. It used to serve as a point for water-filling and monitoring the sea, even having a functioning light-house till 1978. 9 of us and 3 cool DCH snaps, we thought we only missed a Catherine or a Sue. Some more orkut snaps and it was time for some water sports on the Sinquerin beach. While returning from the fort we saw a Mumbai team taking a shoot. Locals told us John Abraham, Amisha Patel and Big B are here. Unable to believe our luck, we wandered around their camp. We spotted Diya Mirja for sure, doing some make-up in one of the cabs, but before we could get any closer we were soon sidelined from the set area :( .

@Sinquerin beach
I wanted to go for speed boat but had to sacrifice coz bacha ( Sandheer ) quickly filled the last seat. So the rest of us joined in the banana ride with two holi dips in the Arabian Sea. Water Scooty and more banana rides followed. We wanted to go for para sailing but @1000/head it was a way too costly affair. 

Beach Volleyball was another activity we indulged still in our undergarments having lost our modesty long long back.

Calangute Beach is said to be the most happening beach in Goa and that inspired us to take a shack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack) for the night. There was still time for the much talked disc in town ( Titto's ), so we sat on the beach gazing at the stars in the clear night sky. I observed Orion, the Bear and other astronomical features for the very first time and felt somewhat fascinated. Exotic sea food was on the menu as we said bon appetite. For we poor veggies, we could just look on as the rest feasted delicacies on the other side of the table coupled with red wine. Crabs, prawns, fish- they had 'em all !
It was 11 in the night and time to hit the disc. When we reached Titto's, the scene there immediately had a salivating smile on all our faces. But soon the gleaming hopes dissapeared seeing the stag entry @ 800 bucks. We comforted each other in total faith of finding another disc and no far did we find our destination - CLUB BLUE. This was entry to some place which I could have never imagined existed in India. There were these crazy Europeans, some almost stripped down, foot tapping in the most non-sensical manners, with lots of booze and smoke all around us. 

As we started for home, one of us in a total drunken state was giving ideas who should drive the bikes and who should sit at the back. Man alcohol takes you places ! And the next place he went was the Shack-bogs and puked like hell through the rest of the night.

Day 3 - Saturday
( Shopping @ Calangute and lunch at Dominos )
Today was the last day of our stay in Goa, and the last night's memory was still fresh in my mind. Couple of us were cursing ourselves for not being bold enough :). The hangover still doing rounds in our mind, we went for shopping along the streets just outside the beach. It was a hot and humid day with the sun blazing down! Shopping proved to be a painful exercise. After a glass of Sugarcane Juice and Watermelon to satisfy our thirst, we finally managed get some sea shell key chains, Goa beach T-shirts ( 3 @ 100 bucks! Thats cheap - aint it ? ) , hats and track pants.
We returned to our Panaji hotel room where we had dumped our baggages and out comes Saif Ali Khan in Pink Sleeveless T-Shirt. Confused ? It was our own CP who has bought for himself a pink t-shirt which was tight at the sides and bulged out from the front. Man ! we laughed like crazy rolling on the floor when he said " I would wear it in the GYM ".With that stomach aching laughter riot, we went for a Dominos treat to give our hungry overworked stomach some respite. Six large Pizza's and we ate like hooligans. It was 5.30 and time to bid adieu to Goa !

Goa surely beckons and this was yet another exciting and exhiliarating experience of my life. Scintillating, mesmerizing, exuburent, ever inviting, exotic, cosmopolitan, unforgettable - I love Goa !

Enjoy !

Back To AOE !!!!!!!

So after weeks had gone by just planning to set an AOE session in Bang , we finally had a Game On this Sunday !

Phoenix (Joe), Mr Wrong (Pammi), Killer3J (Jayesh), Loser (Pammi's Cousin--AOE GOD), MalooRulz (Chandi) and Me (Ricky)
--- we were all there at this Koramangla Gaming Zone where already some maniacs were freaking out playing CS (Counter Strike).

We waited patiently for about half an hour before we could get our hands on the mouse and keyboard, ready to relive the long awaited trip to the world of AOE, truly the Best Strategy Game ever!

GAME 1 (Continental)
Ricky,Maloo,Wrong vs Loser,Phoenix,Killer3J

It was more than 3 months since some of us had last played AOE . To my content I was comfortably placed in the middle, so my strategy was to advance to a fast Castle and help Wrong/Maloo. I went to help Wrong where Loser was creating nuisance.

Phoenix was playing as good as ever and he was soon into Imperial ready to launch a massive attack from the middle. Maloo unaware of the looming danger was happy just restricting killer3J from entering into his arena.

Loser was giving a tough time to me and Wrong at the other end. By the time we could bring some stability at this end, Maloo was run over by Phoenix's elegant and precise attack. Now there was no stopping Joe-the foe and with Killer3J they made our position desperate. Soon we resigned saving ourselves from a demolition drive.

GAME 2 (Oasis)
Ricky,Maloo,Phoenix vs Loser,Wrong,Killer3J

A complete mismatch in terms of team strength . The other team was simply too much for us to handle as all 3 of us were short of match practice . I had forgotten all the short cut keys and kept asking Joe throughout the game.Again I was in the middle, and went out to help Phoenix this time around. Maloo was having a tough time on the other side with Killer3J building Palisade walls around his Gold mines. Sensing trouble, I built a castle near Maloo's Town Cemter to give him some breathing space.

But this had given enough time to Wrong (Koreans) to bring his War Wagons in action. He had also disturbed Joe's economy leaving archer's around his mines.
Loser soon joined in the party and they were soon on top of us. With almost nothing left to defend, we resigned to a destined defeat.


GAME 3 (Arabia-not sure)
Ricky,Killer3J,Loser vs Phoenix,Wrong,Maloo

Voila! me in the middle again. This time i had to take advantage of my secure position, and ensure my allies do not get screwed because of little help from me. I had to effectively switch between Loser and Killer3J so as not to lose the balance.
Though I advanced late to the Castle, I had enough resources to launch an attack with Loser on Maloo. Initially, were having a good time but Wrong came to Maloo's rescue and they regained some lost territory.This gave time for Maloo to settle down a bit.

On the other side Killer3J continued his mild attacks on Phoenix, but soon Phoenix launched a counter attack which was looking dangerous. Killer3J pinged me just in time to gather my attention. I assembled all my army from Loser's Territory on to Joe's side. Before Phoenix could go more into the offensive, I touched Imperial and opened my Trebuchets on to Phoenix's Castle. That was the key to bring Killer3J back into resurrection mode. Now we were advancing into Phoenix's area and he was surely having a tough time.

By this time Wrong and Maloo were looking strong and were starting to pierce in Loser's territory. I researched for Long Swordsman and got Chinese Cho-Kunu to assist him. Soon we were ready for Rampage at both the ends. Killer3J was back on heals and I sensed my first Victory. Though the destruction was incomplete as we ran out of our 2 hour slot, but the result was obvious.


The AOE Session surely re-enlightened my gaming spirits. Its one thing I can now look forward to every weekend.... :)

AOE RULZ !!!!!!!