Yellowstone National Park/Grand Tetons

Yellowstone & Grand Tetons was my last trip on this particular stint in the US. Yellowstone National Park is the world's first National Park and is the largest single piece of wilderness in the US (not considering Alaska). It spreads over three states - Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Grand Teton National Park lies right next to it, near the town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

I won't try to describe what I saw or how I felt in this trip, because I can't. This was Nature at its purest, at its wildest and its most dramatic self. Be it geothermal features (geysers, hot springs, mud pots), mountains, waterfalls or wildlife - Yellowstone has it all.

Yellowstone National Park is like a psychedelic whirl of vivid colors - something which needs to be seen to be believed. Note that none of the photos here are digitally modified or enhanced, except exposure corrections in some cases. This is exactly how the colors appear naturally at Yellowstone.

So without any further ado, here goes -

This is the collection of my favourite photos from this trip. This is what you must see, if you really don't have much time or patience to see my photos :-)

The Best of Yellowstone/Grand Teton

On the other hand, if you do have some more time to spare check out the links below -

Grand Teton	Old Faithful Area - Geothermal Features	Midway Geyser Basin - Geothermal feautures

Mammoth Hot Springs - Geothermal features	West Thumb - Geothermal features	Yellowstone - Mountains, Canyons & Waterfalls

Yellowstone Wildlife

Dark Side of the Moon

Allow me to be sentimental and a bit over the top.

No, in my life I have never driven a Ferrari.
No, in my life I have not seen Maradona weave his magic in person.
No, in my life I have not been to the moon.

But yes, I have seen a Roger Waters concert in person. Waa Waa Wee Wah !!!!


This was a magical and mind blowing experience - an experience and a privilege that I have never ever had before, and perhaps never ever will have in the future (unless I get to see a Roger Waters concert again).

This was yesterday (June 30, 2007), at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul city. This was part of Water's Dark Side of the Moon tour.


Pink Floyd's music is something generations have grown up with. It is a cult, a way of life, a philosophy - it is something which I am entirely incapable of describing in words.

So when I first saw the ad for the concert and found tickets available, I could hardly believe my luck. The feeling of disbelief, elation and over the top emotions really sunk in when Waters first stepped out onto the stage and started performing.

The songs were sung in three sets. In the first set, 'Mother', 'The Fletcher Memorial Home' and of course 'Wish You Were Here' stood out. In this section, there was song called 'Leaving Beirut' which I had not heard before - it's a beautiful & poignant anti-war song, especially in light of US' current 'war on terror' in the Middle-East.

Here is a a recording of the Wish You Were Here performance - LINK

In the second set, songs from the Dark Side of the Moon album were played. And at the end, there was a 'Encore' set where 'Another Brick in the Wall', 'Vera' and 'Comfortably numb' were sung.

Here is a recording of the Another Brick in the Wall performance - LINK

Here is a recording of the Comfortably Numb performance - LINK

All in all, I would rate this as by far the best experience I have had in my life - THE best!!

Complete set of photos is here - LINK

San Francisco

"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" - goes the song by Tony Bennett....
Though I did not quite have to do that, but I did leave with an unhappy heart...longing for more.

It was my first time at San Francisco, and the first time at California - and boy, did I like it! The weather was gorgeous with the ill-famed San Francisco fog playing mostly truant. The company was excellent - I stayed part with my cousin an part with my school buddy Abhishek (my school friends will know how difficult it is to call him my his "real" name). And in hindsight, the choice of things to see could not have been better. I think I made best use of the 5 days that I had (14th to 18th June).

On 14th & 18th June, I used my time to see The City (as the residents refer to San Francisco). I also went to Muir Woods, which has the Giant Sequoia (or California Redwood) - the highest species of trees on earth.

Photos of San Francisco City & Muir Woods

On 15th June, I took a tour to Monterey-Carmel & 17 Mile Drive. It was breathtaking beauty to behold, to say the least. The road winds by with the Pacific Ocean on one side & hills on the other.

Photos of Monterey-Carmel & 17 Mile Drive

On 16th June, Abhishek and his wife Chandrani took me to Yosemite National Park. It was a long & tiring journey but I enjoyed every second of it. We returned well after midnight and finished the day with a sumptuous meal Abhishek & Chandrani had cooked for me.

Photos of Yosemite National Park

After 3 hectic days back to back, I used Sunday (17th June) to just spend some time with my cousin and his family. Finally, I finished off the trip by spending some time at Pier 39 at San Francisco, which included a hearty seafood lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.


PS: If you are thinking about seeing the photos but being daunted by the sheer numbers, here is a small(er) selection -

Collated Photos from the Trip

By the way, this is the first set of photos with my new camera - a digital SLR, the Nikon D40X. Still trying to judge whether the profligacy was worth it :-)

Back to blogging - Trip to Chicago

I mainly blog when I travel and it has been a while since I travelled. Therefore, it was been a while since I have last blogged. Quad Erat Demonstrandum :-)

I intend to make a few posts in detail about the sights in Chicago, but for now all the photos from the trip have been linked below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aniyogi/Chicago

I arrived in the US in February and since then all I had been to was the hotel, the office, the bank and the grocery stores. Not exactly interesting things to blog about! Finally, this weekend I took a trip to Chicago. Monday (28th May) being a holiday (Memorial Day) here, the chance was there to enjoy a long weekend - and I took it.

Eagan (the place where I live in the US) being such a small, sleepy, deserted place had starved me of the city air that I have grown up breathing. It felt really great to be in a big, noisy city that was throbbing with life, people and activity.

I reached there on Friday night, after a 1 hr 15 mins flight got delayed by another 1 hr and 15 mins! A co-passenger told me that NorthWest Airlines actually has the worst service record for any corporation in the US, not just the airlines industry - and that I could see.

There was no sightseeing on Friday. But we made best use of Saturday, even though the weather was lousy with rain and clouds. From morning to late and night we were walking around the city, with a break in between for a hearty Italian lunch. In the end I think we walked about 20 miles in all.

The most obvious Indian connection to Chicago is the Art Institute of Chicago where Swami Vivekananda delivered his famous speech at the Parliament of Religions in 1893. From there we went to the Millenium Park, where you get to see the wonderful Cloud Gate sculpture.

Sunday brought beautiful weather and I grabbed that opportunity to go to the top of Sears Tower. Sears Tower was the tallest building with the world when it was built but lost that position first to Petronas Tower, Malaysia and then Taipei 101, Taipei. The SkyDeck on the 103rd floor offers excellent views of the city and beyond. In the evening we enjoyed the fireworks on display at Navy Pier, on the ocaasion of Memorial Day.

I stayed in Chicago at Souvick's place (Souvick is the childhood friend of my colleague Prabudhha ). The three of us had an excellent three days together - it was great company. Would like to thank Souvick for his hospitality and making this trip a very enjoyable one!

Kanchan Calling...

"Kanchan Calling" was the buzz phrase.....Hype that promised much - especially with regards to the "horizontal limit" to Kangchenjunga, finally delivered its promise on the morning of 2nd December. The curtain of clouds (and mists of doubt) were finally lifted - and this is the sight that greeted me as I stepped out on to balcony first thing in the morning -

We, of course, had gone to Deolo Hills (at about 5500 feet) near Kalimpong. We started on the night of 30th November, a gang of about 15 IBM colleagues and their families.

The next day we reached Siliguri - but that was a day when Bengal's Lady Peter Pan decided to throw yet another of her "Oh-I-want-a-lollipop" tantrums and call a bandh. So the day was essentially wasted as we had to wait in Siliguri itself. It was not until late afternoon that we started for Kalimpong and reached there at night.

We of course had lost a day, so the next day was anticipated to be hectic - and it was...We first went to nearby Pedong to pickup our guide. We then took us to a place called Ramithey. The distance from Pedong to Ramithey is merely 6 miles or so - but we climbed from a distance of 4800 feet at Pedong to 6400 feet at Ramithey in that short distance. The "road" was steep, bumpy, wet and tested our Chevrolet Taveras to their nuts&bolts.

One is supposed to get a almost 360 degree view of peaks from the top of Ramithey - the only things we managed to see, however, were clouds and haze (and a few photographs that promised much). On the way back to a hearty lunch at Pedong we had a short stop at Silence Valley. The day ended with a long drive to Aritar Lake in Sikkim and a bonfire back at the Deolo Tourist Lodge.

Here are the photos from the first two days.

Of course the last day was vastly different. The morning was glorious and the backdrop of Kangchenjunga majestic. Justice was finally done to the SLR's and the megapixels we had carried along.

However, soon it was time to say goodbye to 'Kanchan' and return to the mundane world. We took a bit of a detour and came down to Siliguri via Gorubathan.

Photos from the last day

Another aspect of this tour worth remembering was of course the food - our beloved Phalguni-da, needless to say laid down very high standards and went all the way to ensure 'demanding customers' like Gairik-da and yours truly were satisfied. 'Kanchan' may not have made an appearance on the first two days, but the chicken legs certainly did (and disappeared equally quickly).

Pujo 2006

Last year was the first time I missed Pujo in Kolkata - away in Denmark, far from all the fun and festivities here.

This time, of course, I was in Kolkata and that made it all the more enjoyable. Also this time most of my school friends were able to make it back to Kolkata for the Pujas.

In fact the festivities for me started on Panchami itself with a lunch out to Charnock City - kebabs, tandoori pomphret, dub-chingri, chitol maach ..et al. The next day also we had a lunch out to Honey-da-dhaba - tandoori chicken being the highlight. And that evening I had the opportunity to say goodbye to office for 4 days...

The next 4 days were extremely enjoyable and relaxing, punctuated by several binge sessions at Marco Polo in China, Flavours of China, Cafe The Atrium at the Park Hotel and also excellent home made food.

On Saptami we went to Doshghhora (Abodesh's ancestral home). Here are a few photos from that day - http://picasaweb.google.com/aniyogi/Pujo2006290906Doshghhora

These are a few snaps from Ashtami morning - a day when tradionally most Bengali's go their local pandals to offer 'anjali'... http://picasaweb.google.com/aniyogi/Pujo2006300906Ashtami

We also hired a Sumo and went on a night long pandal hopping trip on Nabami night -
http://picasaweb.google.com/aniyogi/Pujo2006011006Nabami

And this is a video I shot on Ashtami morning (Warning: those of you who missed the Puja's are gauranteed to feel extremely nostalgic and heavy hearted!)....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5696580019408203696

Shubho Bijoya !!

100 years old and soon a memory?

Recently after a long time (possibly the first time since my childhood) I went to Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata. Some photos from the visit and some thoughts follow -

This building which was built as a symbol of the domination of the British Raj, is celebrating its 100 years this year. Though without a doubt better off when compared to many other historical monuments in India, this Kolkata landmark has been suffering badly in the hands of time & neglect.

For example, the dome itself is leaking. This is apparent as soon as we climbed up the steps and reached the front door. It was raining and some buckets had been strategically put in place to hold the water falling from the roof. The seeping roof has long been a cause of concern and there has been some talk of taking some temporary steps as well as some more long term actions. Going by the evidence I saw, not much headway has been made.

The inside was no better. Only about a third of the whole musuem is air conditioned. Priceless paintings and other artifacts therefore lie exposed at the mercy of Kolkata's hot & humid weather.

The 5 m tall bronze statue of the 'Angel of Victory' (as can be seen in the photo above, atop the dome) has always been in news since 1999, when it stopped rotating. After numerous petitions and court litigations finally something happened when experts from Jadavpur University were called in. They diagnosed the problem to be - "The problem with the Angel was mainly because of two things. One was the copper conductor which was placed to bypass the lightening current was taken out. As a result, the lightening current, which has passed through the bearings, got spot wielded. So, the whole thing became one piece. The other one was that the space in between the bearing, space between the spindle and all these were packed up with mixture of marble dust, white cement and iron powder".

Work is currently underway to fix these problems. But there has been an allegation that clearing the cementing material at the base of the angel has caused seepage of water into the hall from the roof. We can only hope that all the concerned authorities get their act quickly and give this building it's due importance in it's 100th year.

'Tiffin' @ Work

A recent article from BBC News - Mumbai's "dabbawallas" have now gone online. The incredible chain of lunchbox pickup from homes and the delivering it on time at far away workplaces at lunchtime has long been showcased as an example of efficiency, dedication and teamwork. In fact, the study of the Dabbawallah's has made it to the course curricullam of several of India's B' schools as an example of supply chain management efficiency.

This brings to my mind the entire scenario of having 'tiffin' or lunch at our offices. To think of it, this need has lead to a whole sub-economy in India. I do not have the experience of working in any other city in India other than Kolkata - so my experience is restricted to Kolkata itself and that is what I will write about here.

Now we all know almost any Bengali can is invariably a 'bhojon-roshik' (rough translation: food afficianado). We Bengali's sure do enjoy and know our food. And since more than half the time in a typical day is spent at office, office 'tiffin' or lunch becomes a life saving necessity...

Before the fast food and eating out revolution hit us, most people used to carry lunch from home (many people still do now, but I believe the percentage has gone down). Now of course, there are various options available - be it the office canteen, street food, restaurant take-aways and such alike.

Office canteens are for the more conservative at heart - they dish out the regular Bengali 'thaali' or multi-course meals. Typical meal would consist of a rice and/or roti, some vegetables (in most days heavily dominated by the cheapest vegetable available - potato), fish or chicken curry and a 'mishti' (Bengali sweets) or doi (yoghurt - made the Bengali way).

Now many people are constantly driven by the spirit of adventure and innovation - and the above staple fare served at office canteens will not satiate their taste buds. That is where the street food of Kolkata comes into the picture.

The two places in Kolkata who have earned their fame in this regard are Decars Lane and Camac Street, especially the former. In both these places you would find an amazing variety of food available - bengali, north indian, south indian, "chinese" (thoroughly Indianised) and also what is proclaimed as 'Continental' (stews and such alike). The requirements from most people eating in these shops are primarily how filling the food is (the quantity), how cheap the food is and also how quick the 'service' is. The though of pristine hygiene is something which one will have to forego if eating at these places.

Another late entrant to the Kolkata lunch scene is the 'dabba' - now 'dabba' in Kolkata is not what is meant by 'dabba' in Mumbai. In Mumbai the 'dabba's contain food is home-made and is then to an individual at his work place. In Kolkata the 'dabbawala' delivers food which he has made/procured himself.

In this regard I should mention the lunch scenario in the IT industry belt of Kolkata (primarily Sector V, Salt Lake). Here the situation is a different because there are very few restaurants in this area. Most people either bring food from home or have it in their respective office canteens. But there are two more options - firstly there are some vendors who bring in food in mobile vans. They come in at lunchtime - serve the food out of the car/van and then leave. There are also a number of semi-permanent structures - they are referred to as 'jhhupri' in Bengali ('jhhups' is a recent trendy name :-)). These 'jhhups' normally have steaming hot rice, 'daal' & fried fish on the 'menu' - the hygiene bit of course leaves a lot to be desired.

The recent Mumbai bomb blast - some thoughts...

7/11 - Mumbai was ripped apart by 8 bomb blasts - around 200 people killed, hundreds more are gravely injured. The many 24x7 news channels across Indian TV space scramble over each other to provide the details - live feeds, audience reactions, expert panel interviews...

7/12 - Mumbai is trying to slowly crawl back to normal, people are going back to work...TV channels such as CNN-IBN go gaa-gaa about the "Mumbai spirit".... images are being shown of people helping each other on the streets, water & food being provided to the stranded, people are queuing up in front of blood banks...

People going back to work the very next day after the blast are interviewed, especially those who are traveling by the local train network...Mumbai is returning to "normal"...

7/13 - The security agencies and police are woken up from their slumber and they pretend to be doing their work - more than 350 have been detained...LeT & SIMI are being suspected as the perpetrators.

7/14 (today) - The bomb blast news is no longer the sole story hogging the headlines - the 'breaking story' is now just another story....

Tomorrow - Mumbai returns to "normalcy", the bomb blast story vanishes from the headlines and most importantly - we forget...

A regular and familiar pattern - all of us are proud and resilient Indians - we can take pain (give us more, please)...we are famous for our ability to "bounce back"....

Question is, do we really "bounce back"? Are the people who are traveling by Mumbai local trains today doing so because they want to show bounce back or prove to somebody that "India will not be scared of terrorists?". Or is it because they are taking the train because taking a taxi will cost more money and taking a bus more time than they can afford?

For the people who HAVE been the real victims, people who have lost their family, their friends...people who lost their limbs and will never lead an active life again....will things ever return to "normal" again? In my opinion, no...

There will be some arrests surely (maybe after 10/15 years), a high profile trial - and then mostly likely an acquittal. The accused will then proclaim himself as the "victim of the media's witchhunts" and win an election on a sympathy wave..

Okay, maybe I have gone too far in the last bit - but the reality is nothing will never happen, nothing will change. The whole nation will seat glued to TV watching the "breaking news", there will be reams of newsprint printed, parliament will see heated discussions, people will chat, rave, rant, blog (like me here!), and then we will forget - and then the cycle will start again for yet another story.

This brings me to a question which is related to what I have already said above - I have never understood why our collective public memory is so short? Why do we forget so quickly? Why is it that any issue which is burning today is not even in the fine print tomorrow?

There are so many examples in the recent past - the reservations issue for example. Protests, hungerstrikes, resignations and even self-immolations. Ultimately all that has changed nothing! And then quietly, slowly but surely that issue has vanished from each our minds.

Even non-issues such as during the release of Da Vinci Code will stir the Indian media into frenzied activity. Issues such as these have shorter lifetimes but during that time they even have the capacity of displacing the more important issues from the limelight.

Another area which gives (or used to give, in my case) us national identity is cricket. There also, for example a cricketer turns in a great performance in a match. He is hailed by all and sundry as the next Sachin Tendulkar or the next Kapil Dev. The whole nation will idolise him, people will sport his hairstyle - and then he flops in the next match. Lo and behold - all that was said & sung before is conveniently forgotten. That very same player will then be the villain and will be put down to the dust...

Or take for example the scant regard with which we treat our own history and our own monuments. How many times have we seen people deface our monuments by scribing their names on them? Or for that matter monuments covered in 'paan' stains and garbage?

All of this is something which arouses great curiosity in me. What is it that has caused our public memory to be so short? Why do we forget (and perhaps forgive) the past so quickly? Is it the role played by the media? Or is it the fact that given our continuous struggles with the present we can afford no time for the past?

I wonder....can someone answer?

10 Things I dream to do before I die...

Just came across this book today while surfing through Indiatimes Books.....
"Unforgettable Things to do Before You Die"

I found the title of the book to be very thought provoking and started thinking about it.....I am in hurry to die right now, but why not start planning for things straight away? As somebody has said "Life is short and work is long" - once I started thinking about the things I wanted to do, it was a case of "Life is short and the list is long". In the end I forced myself to stop at listing the Top 10 wishes only.

So here goes...my list of 10 things that I would like to do before I die (in no strict order)

1. Visit Manasarovar in the Tibetian Plateau...a place of stunning & rugged beauty....a place where the heavens touch the earth....

2. This is something which I have already done - a trip to Paris! Two unforgettable experiences stand out - an evening cruise on the Seine River watching the Eiffel Tower lit up by glittering lights; a visit to the Louvre and being awestruck by the astonishing art collection on display.

3. A drive from coast to coast of USA - in a Ferrari F430 Spider

4. Spending a night out in front of the Taj Mahal lit by moonlight.

5. An open-air dinner in the many restaurants in San Marco's Square in Venice accompanied by the best French wine (Chateaux Mouton-Rothschild perhaps) and with musicians performing live classical music. I would like to be dressed in a Louis Vuitton suit, Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and wearing a Chopard watch.

I have been to Venice & San Marco's Square, so part of the dream has been fulfilled. But the reality ends there - the rest is sadly pure pipe deam :-(

6. A night out on the African Bush all by myself driving a jeep......stop the jeep in the middle of the vast plains......enjoy the silence, watch the starry skies and get to see a lion in its natural habitat.

7. Visit the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in the Andes mountains in Peru. Take the Inca Trail route up the mountain, camping in tents at night.

8. Watch the men's singles final at The Championships, Wimbledon - with Roger Federer playing. It's not only about the sport - but also the sheer heritage, the ambience and the feeling..

9. Bungee-jump from one of the cliffs at Grand Canyon - dowwwwwwwwn to the depths below!

10. Watch Sourav Ganguly lift World Cup 2007 :-))

There are many other wishes and dreams - but right at this moment, at this stage - these are the Top 10 !