A solo traveller in the Himalayas

How do you fill the void when a highly anticipated Chile trip gets cancelled? You plan a trip to an equally exotic place! And, this is exactly what I did, except for the planning part. After surprising my parents who thought I was on a trip to Chile, I embarked on my trip to Bhutan. I cooked up a quick itinerary while waiting for my flight to Bagdogra from Cochin. I was in short of liquid cash, but I was hopeful of getting it from Delhi during my transit time. But little did I know about Modiji's plan for me. Delhi airport was out of cash for the previous three days. So, once I got down at Bagdogra, I had to stand in line at a local ATM. When I started the trip, I had pictured it as a soulful trip with the mighty Himalayas watching over me. But there I was, standing in a long queue to get money for my trip while warding off mosquitoes. (I shouldn't complain, Damn, those soldiers in Siachen) Once I got my money, it was already late, so I decided to get a hotel in Siliguri and travel to the border town Phuentsholing early in the morning. I made a deal with a local taxi driver to drive me to Phuentsholing around 5 am. This meant that I could reach Pheuntsholing by 8, right in time to get permit for my onward travel to Bhutan.

A temple in Pheuntsholing

Early in the morning I left for Phuentsholing and I reached there by 8 am. There I met with two other solo travellers. Bala, who was travelling from Mumbai on his royal enfield offered to give me a lift to Paro, Bhutan. Since I had only very few days in my hand I had decided to visit Tiger's nest (Takstang) alone and then move to Gangtok. The bike ride to Paro was the highlight of Day 2. It felt like being in the sets of Kung fu panda movie. We halted at Paro and headed out for dinner.

Bala rode all the way from Mumbai on his Royal Enfield Himalaya

On the way to Paro

Embracing the fog en-route to Paro

Water fall on the way to Paro

Local cuisine of Bhutan

Next day morning at 6, we left for Takstang (Tiger's nest). There was a Bhutanese family at the foothill of Takstang. They were going to the temple for prayers. Though we didn't speak each other's language, we both seemed to understand each other. Bala without his bullet was struggling with the trek and gave me a nod to walk at my own pace. I moved along with the Bhutanese family. At midway, I met with Darsha Sanghal who had left her acrophobic husband at the foothill to trek up the Takstang. We both talked about our adventures as we trekked up. We took almost 1.5 hours to reach the summit. Takstang is a group of 12 temples, but unfortunately photography is not allowed there. Our next destination was Thimphu, as we needed new permits to travel to the Phobjika in Bhutan. Though we managed to reached Thimphu to get permit, we needed additional permit for the bullet. Unfortunately the office was closed by the time we reached Thimphu and would open only at 9 next morning. This meant that I would have to waste close to 4 hours in Thimphu which I didn't think was worth while. So I decided to go back to Gangtok which was my initial plan. I reached Phuentsholing that night and stayed there.

Tiger's nest covered in early morning fog

Halfway through to Tiger's nest

Taichung Toji and Ichi Sangma with their parents

This little guy also accompanied us in our early morning trek

The breathtaking view of Takstang (Tiger's Nest)

Darsha and I at the entrance of  Takstang Temple

Next day morning, I took a bus to Siliguri. A strange thought of taking the Helicopter from Bagdogra to Gangtok hit me. I called them up to see if there were any seats available. Apparently seats get filled almost 6 months in advance in the four seated helicopter. Seats were not available for my return trip as well. Thus I took another Bus to Gangtok. I checked into a hotel in Gangtok and decided to roam around the city. The rope way in Gangtok was the only thing worth mentioning about Gangtok city. Next day I had my trip planned to Nathula pass. On this trip I met three other solo travelers. After Nathula we four decided to hangout. At this point I got a call from Pawan Hans helicopter telling me about a last minute cancellation and availability of a seat. I rushed to their office and got the tickets for next day and then we headed out to try out the local drink called Chaang. Thanks to Deependra, knowing the local language, we found a really shady place in Gangtok which served the local drink.

MG Marg at early morning

Rope way at Gangtok

Gangtok city view from rope way

On the way to Nathula

Nathula Pass (The red building is in China)

Mahesh and I coming back to our Sumo after getting "Prasad" from Baba Mandir

Fondling a Yak on the way back from Nathula

Chengu Lake

Local beer Chhang served in Bamboo glass (Dhongra)

Trying out the local drink Chaang with fellow solo travellers

Night life at Gangtok is limited to very few pubs like Cafe Live and Loud

Selfie craze of Prasanth at Lhasa waterfall

Parting ways with a good friend at MG Marg

The mighty Kanchenjunga (View from Ganesh Tok)

Helicopter ride from Gangtok to Bagdogra

Teesta river view from helicopter

Next day morning Prasanth and I set out for a local site seeing. Our destination was Tashi view point, but the morning being cloudy we couldn't see Kanchenjunga from there. Our driver took us to Ganesh tok from where Kanchenjunga was clearly visible. After this we headed back to our hotel where I parted ways with Prasanth and left for the helipad.An epic trip was coming to close with my first ever Helicopter ride.

This happened to be the best solo trip I have ever taken. I met many interesting people, traveled using all possible means of commute from cycle rickshaw to helicopter and experienced different local cuisines and above all had a bunch of good memories to hold on to.


Tips for Bhutan/Gangtok travellers
1. Permit to travel to Paro and Thimphu is issued only on weekdays from Phentsholing.
2. Permit to travel to other places in Bhutan is issued from Thimphu and the office closes by 4 pm.
3. Make sure you get your permit stamped at each entry point.
3. Nathula pass is closed on Sat and Sundays.

An MFE dream

Professor Hanno Lustig was talking about volatility modelling, my double strong cafe was trying its best to keep me awake. I looked around, I could see many poker faces staring at the Professor like they had had enough of this shit,somewhere just noting down whatever the Professor was writing on the board. Few of them where as clueless as I was. All of a sudden class president Udit asks a doubt. Many of them were awe struck at that, as if they just got to know that Santa wasn't real. Few of them had a happy smile. I guess, like me, they were also happy that at least one person was following these complex models. From a relatively easy first quarter no one was expecting the shit to hit the roof so fast. Stochastic calculus was in similar lines. During the break people gather in front of the board which resembled script from A beautiful mind. Many of them probably were just trying to understand the chronological order in which professor wrote that “script”. Happy faces were all around during the derivatives class. The funny little French man in his witty French accent taught us derivatives in the easiest way while stealing hearts of many ladies in the class. Though the classes were really tough, everyone survived, many excelled in the exam in such a way that Prof Hanno said he won't get the marks that most of us got had he wrote the same exams. That was a moment of revelation for me when I realized most of my classmates were super smart. No quarter ends without an end quarter session. Everyone celebrated one quarter of hard work at some good pub only to leave back some funny moments or like in my case many embarrassing moments.

End of quarter networking session in spring

Typical class day

De-crypting stochastic calculus

Spring quarter was water boarding 2.0 for most of us. Professor Levon with his unlimited knowledge of computational method was bombarding us with weekly home works. Prof Jason Hsu made us write (Ctrl C + Ctrl V) SAS codes which we didn't understand. Professor Longstaff, with his charm of Wall Street knowledge was teaching us fixed income markets. The uncanny way in which he introduced topics and generated curiosity in us explained, why he was considered to be a great professor. I had to wait for another one month to join Numerix for my internship to know how great he was. Almost all the internal papers in Numerix had some citation or explanation of Professor Longstaff's work. Around this time, I realized the pattern in which MFE classes go. A bunch of smart Chinese students occupied first row, a relatively indifferent Indian gang occupied left part of last row. A bunch of confused students occupied second and third row. Gor and his gang occupied right part of last row. An inseparable Indian girls gang occupied middle part of penultimate row with the high bass Naveen Daftari guarding them behind in the last row. Classes cannot function without the jolly face of Alphonso or the multitude of questions from Emily and Sarah. Questions asked by Matt made many of us realize how little we understood from the class and the intermittent groan of Yong Du took us towards the end of spring quarter. This quarter was as mentioned earlier water boarding 2.0 for most of us as we had to go through the pressure of finding an internship. But we were all by then groomed in fire, how would we wilt away in the sun. All of us got internships and flew to different parts of the world making us realize about the inevitable separation that is supposed to happen after the final fall quarter.

Class president Udit presenting MFE teaching excellence award to Prof Daniel Andrei

Alphonso delivering graduation speech

The whole gang

People returned as jolly good fellows. There was smile on everyone's face and these were visible while Professor Holger Kraft introduced us to credit market and oliver ledoit made us all laugh when we watched his class videos in 2x speed. The quarter was coming to an end, for many of us it was time to embrace the new opportunity, for many, it was the sadness of leaving close friends, for many, it was the uncertainty of finding the right career and for me it was the sheer joy of going home after one long year. To all my fellow colleagues at MFE, we have endured a lot together, this bonded few of us, but distanced few others. The experience that we had was unmatched and will remain in our hearts with all its glory for we have seen it all.

223 Strathmore might become world heritage center after centuries coz of the eminent personalities in the figure

Finally an MFE

With the key note speaker at Graduation party

At the graduation party

Good luck Bruins!!!

PS: Photo credits to Udit, Tanvi, Wenyao and Rich 

Edmonton: A biking haven

A Summer in NY

When the tourists were sprawling through the reading room of the New York public library, I slowly moved my book with contempt of being disturbed during my reading time.  I think the best feeling that you get when you visit a place is the sense of belonging. Just three months into my New York life, I was already feeling as if I belonged here. I was no more awe struck looking at the Grand Central terminal, nor taking selfies at the Times square - New York is part of my everyday life now. This city in a short time made me fall in love with it over and over.

In June when I landed in NY, I was already missing LA. The crowded streets, even more crowded subways and the filthy pavements made me miss the serene Westwood and UCLA campus. I thought I would never like this place, but little did I know how things were going to change. New York had set plans for me the very next weekend. Craving for some Masala Dosa, I left to Saravana bhavan early on the Sunday of my first weekend in NY. While returning I found a large set of barricades being kept in Fifth Avenue. I was about to witness a famous Gay pride walk in addition to a celebrity spotting in Ian  Mckellen.

The next weekend I set off to Princeton with a friend of mine. The old buildings in the Princeton campus gave it a feel of visiting a European village. 

Battle Monument

Central Park

 In evenings, I made sure to go for Jogging in the River side park. This big stretch near Hudson River used to be my favorite hangout place in the evening after a hectic day at internship. 96^th street and Riverside Park has many summer activities with many cultural events during the weekend.

The week after the July 4^th, I decided to travel to DC to meet Sreya and her Husband Arun. We were meeting after two long years. Though gossip was our main action item for my visit, we found time to do a quick trip to war memorial and Memorial park.

The gorgeous looking Sreya

Lincoln memorial

 Next weekend, after spending my day at the NY public library, I quickly went to stand in line for Shakespeare in Park.  Every summer, the Delacorte Theater in Central park hosts plays written by Shakespeare and played by experts in the field. NY surprised me when I got to know that this is a free event. The play was really good and in a way, this made me book my first Broadway show Phantom of the Opera.

Cymbeline @ Delacorte Theater

 My next big plan was when I saw the ticket for sale ad for US open. As the schedule is not out until the day of play, I took a big shot and booked my ticket for second round evening session. Though I couldn’t see the master (read Roger Federer) playing, I was happy that I could see nerve-cracking first round matches of both Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray.
 

The next big thing that was awaiting me in the next weekend was a Smokies trip. The long weekend with an additional leave gave us four days at Smokies. 

Our tent at Cades cove

Southern Lunch on the way to Smokies

On the way to Cligmans Dome

Pavan, Gobind, GT and me at Clingmans

Trekking in Smokies

Pavan entertaining us on our second day camp in Jack Rabbit

My last weekend in NY turned out to be an interesting weekend when Akshaya San, visited me from DC. It felt really good to do a final wrap-up of visiting all the important places in NY. While taking him to different places in NY, I could sense that I belonged at NY. The Friday that Akshaya visited, we spent the entire night roaming around NYC. We visited all the major places after the clock ticked 12 in the morning. We roamed around until we saw dawn crack in the horizon. That was my first night out in many years. 

The mandatory selfie at Times Square with Akshaya

The three months in NY will remain as the most eventful time of my life. Remembering the lines from ‘The perks of being a wall flower’, “This moment will just be another story someday” but at this point I am living this moment and I love it and will miss it.

Melancholy X'mas

I used to hate it when
                my mom used to poke me for midnight mass on X’mas eve
I used to hate it when
                the cold bites deep down to my bone.
I used to hate it when
                I had to wait for the mass to end to taste the chicken curry
I used to hate it when
                the crackers burst all night interrupting my sleep

I used to hate it when
                I was forced to go along with the X’mas carol
I used to hate it when
                my brother made me do all the menial job for the crib
I used to hate it when
                my dad snored after the afternoon meal interrupting my X’mas movie
I used to hate it when
                my mom sends me off to give X’mas cake to neighbors

I used to hate it when
                few of my cousins get delayed for the X’mas night party
I used to hate it when
                no one cared about the games that I have put a lot of thoughts in.
I used to hate it when
                everyone leaves when all I could think was how to make them stay for couple more minutes
I used to hate it when
                everyone left with a smile and I am the only one with a sad face.

Now I miss all these……

A Fall in LA

You all look really great! The program coordinator at UCLA was being very vocal about it during the photo shoot. I remember searching in vain in the mirror on that morning to find some signs of handsomeness. May be that’s just an American way of saying nice about anything and everything. Also I was not expecting her to say that “You all look great! Except you Feeebin” But I have seen many Americans greeting each other saying you look amazing/great/nice even though the other person looks as if he/she  just got out of bed. The key point here is that Americans are generally very courteous. Any random person you come across in the street will smile at you and greet you with a Hi or How is it going? They walk away as if they know the answer. After all, in America everything is great so what negative answer do you expect?

I started my exploration in the very first week, with Hollywood walk of fame and Santa Monica beach. UCLA had organized thanksgiving program in which I was invited to dine with an alumni from UCLA for thanksgiving dinner. They prepared a wonderful dinner for me and we had a highly intellectual discussion during the dinner. I had to use all my current affairs reading to be involved in the discussion.  This was little strange for me as my family usually discuss people and movies during our dinner time. 

At Hollywood walk of fame

The happening street of Santa Monica

Mr Clark and Family at Thanksgiving

For the next two weeks, I joined the UCLA hiking club for two different treks. One was at Devil’s Punch Bowl which was relatively easy. The next one at Santa Paula waterfall was highly adventurous as we had to do some rock climbing where a loose step could lead to a fall as deep as 20m below. The effort was completely worth it as we reached the natural pool at the end of the trek. I consider this as one of the toughest treks that I embarked upon, that too with a history of five shoulder dislocations.

First Trek @ Devils Punch Bowl

Second Trek @ Santa Paula. The toughest part

Santa Paula Pool

Enjoying a natural slider

The finals week came soon. I couldn't wait for the final night mischiefs that me and my roommates had planned. (I am leaving this to reader's imagination) In this excitement I finished my exam with half time remaining and went to the Jenss step to enjoy a cool sunset. The very next day we left for a trek to Hollywood sign trail. I extended this trek further to conquer Chahuenga peak as my friends returned back. At the end of it I visited the Bat cave famous from the Batman TV show in 1960’s

View from Janss step

With Roomies at Hollwood trail

Getting photo bombed @Chaheunga Peak

My impression of the entertainment capital of the world has been great so far. This vibrant city has a lot to offer and I am patiently waiting for more and more wonderful experiences.

Why people are awesome

I happened to think a lot these days, which is very unusual with me as I have very limited thoughts, and I have found that people are genuinely good irrespective of the belief they follow or irrespective of the race they are in. I felt that people have a natural inclination to help others which might be more related to genetics than the bible saying “Thou shall love thy neighbors”. I don’t think anyone who helps a complete stranger thinks that he is increasing his chance to the “Heavenly abode” or “Moksha” while involved in the act. I was trying to recollect few of the incidents where a complete stranger helped me without expecting anything in return. Here is my list.

First: I was eighteen years old and had just got my driving license. During some family function, I was asked to go and get my cousin who was coming from Bangalore to a particular place. This place was around 40 Km from my home and I had to travel through the ghat sections and narrow roads. This was my first trip alone after getting my driving license and to be frank, I was scared about travelling alone through the secluded area. Just some 15 Km from my home, my tires got punctured. I didn’t notice it and an auto driver who was overtaking me shouted at me. I stopped the car and got out; I didn’t have any clue on how to change the tires. Just as I was worried and was staring at the jacks in the car dickey, the auto driver who warned about my punctured tire came back. He said that he noticed that I was alone and he thought he could probably help me with this. In the next five minutes he replaced the tyres, with me just playing the role of supervisor. I didn’t even have the courtesy to say thanks or give a gracious smile. I was just happy that I could get my work done without moving a little finger. As he drove away, the ungracious little jerk that was me sped away just to manipulate the story later as an adventurous experience to my cousins.

Second: I was on a bike trip with my friend to Hampi. It was almost midnight and we were still 60 Km away from Hampi. We decided to stay the night at Bellary and leave to Hampi on the next day. I was driving and my friend was the pillion rider. I missed one Hump completely and this made the bike to skid. I could still balance the bike and myself and the bike were safe. But my friend lost the balance and he fell to the road. He suffered a bruise on face and small other injuries. As it was pitch dark, we were left with only the lights coming from the vehicles passing by. A person came in jeep and stopped near to us. He offered to help us. We were really skeptical about him. He told us that he doesn’t expect anything in return and was just doing this because someone helped him sometime back. We were still skeptical. He told he will take us to hospital or atleast help us in finding a decent hotel. First he took us to a small mess where my friend could clean up his wounds and he asked few of his friends who were studying nursing to help us get first aid. He was trying hard to help us and we were trying to wade him away thinking he was looking for monetary benefits. We never paid him, but thanked him a lot and exchanged numbers in case he came to Bangalore. I recently deleted his number while I was cleaning my contacts.

Myself and injured Vishnu at Hampi

Third: I was 2 min late to catch my Bus to my native and the bus had left in the busy Bangalore traffic. As I had the number of the conductor I called him up. He asked me to get into an auto and come to some hospital bus stop. I got into an auto and asked the auto driver to speak to the driver. They both spoke and the auto driver got to know the exact location where I was asked to go. He took me through the heavy Bangalore traffic. As we were moving through the traffic, I realized that I did not have enough money to pay the auto driver. I had a couple of ten rupee notes and 17 one rupee coins. I remained silent as I thought if I tell the auto driver about this he might not take me to my destination. He was a skilled driver and he used all his driving experience to reach the destination in time.  As I got out I told him I don’t have enough money with me and handed over couple of ten rupee and the 17 one rupee coin. I told him I will be back to Bangalore on Monday and then hand him the remaining money. I exchanged my phone number and also gave my driving license as a security to him. On the Monday after that I called him up and he came near to my office where I paid him the remaining money. To add to that there was another stranger in the bus, who was sitting beside me, after hearing my small adventure felt pity for me and offered to buy me dinner when the bus stopped in a remote location with no ATM’s around for dinner.

I am sure that everyone who read this will have many more and even better experiences than what I had. I was also cheated once when I was trying to help a stranger. Also I was given a ferocious look by a big bosomed lady when she mistook my signal to switch of the lights of her motor bike. But these setbacks doesn’t make me stop and I contribute in my own way in doing small things which might help the stranger without expecting my name to be written in “The book of life”