Team from Csharks consisting of Eldhose and me (Juwal) had this wonderful opportunity to attend Indian Game Developer Summit at Bengaluru on Feb 27, 2010.

From IGDS

We reached at the venue close to 9 am in the morning traveling through train from Kochi. Nimhans convention centre was a great venue and many of the attendees were already talking snaps of the place. Registration went smoothly and saltmarch kits were provided which included a laptop bag, brochures, timetable, lunch coupon, notepad and pen.

Going in what caught our attention was the first stall by Adobe. We for pamphlets on the flash platform and Adobe keychains. We were really happy to see Adobe as gold sponsors for the event as our primary development platform was Flash.

From IGDS

We being an online game development company, were focusing to attend many of those informative sessions on online gaming. But there were sessions covering different streams of game development with focus on 3D, social gaming and mobile development.

From IGDS

There were stalls by nVidia, Ubisoft, Playdom, Aiga and more which also included refreshments sponsored by Redbull.

The event started with keynote session by Carl Jones from Crytek. I had played all their games and was a big fan of Crysis. I couldnt hold onto my seats when he demoed the latest CryEngine3.

We had some coffee and snack after that. Meanwhile i had met Yadu rajiv, a veteran open source game developer from Trivandrum and also the team from Chayowo games.

From IGDS

I choose to attend ‘creating successful online games’ by Robin Alter of Kreeda games. He explained the methodology followed at Kreeda for their MMO game about to be released soon.

From IGDS

I missed out the nVidia session which ran in parallel and came to know that they were raffling some nVidia graphics cards to lucky people in the audience. If i was a student at that point, i would have only attended all nVidia sessions LOL.

From IGDS

Next session i chose was by Harish Sivaramakrishnan, tech evangelist at Adobe. His session was on creating, distributing and monetizing flash games. He informed us how easy it was to really deploy iphone games with the new CS5 version of flash. He also let us know more on the Shibuya platform for monetizing flash games on AIR marketplace.

From IGDS

Next session for me was ‘the business of online games’ by Tridib Roy. This was really important session from our perspective as he disclosed lots of statistics and information which we could use for our online game business.

From IGDS

We broke for lunch and had some networking with delegates from other companies. Eldhose had some meetings scheduled with dignitaries from same domain. I took the time to catch up with Harish and the Adobe team at their stall. Met Ramesh, hemant and Vysagh and we talked about some usergroup activities for 2010. The team showed great support for the interest that we had shown for the platform and promised to help us out with the upcoming special events with the Kerala UG.

I happened to see people enjoying 3D gaming in real 3D with goggles at the nVidia stalls.

From IGDS

Next up was a session on Ghajjini, the game made by FxLabs on Torque game engine. We wanted to know more about this as it was an IP from India and an engine for which we had license. Imran khan explained a lot about how they went about the whole project from concept to final marketing. This was an eyeopener in many sense.

From IGDS

Sumit Gupta had this excellent session on ‘preparing for the great indian gaming rush’ which focussed on the need to get started with facebook social games development. He explained why the social gaming arena is ripe for getting started and how all will benefit on the long run.

From IGDS

I wanted to attend Yadu rajivs session on open source development but it coincided with ‘mobile game development’ session by Hemant. Hemant went about demoing the great Adobe Device central and Flash CS5 and showed how easy it was to create an accelerometer controlled game for your mobile device. He also controlled a PC client using a mobile device accelerometer control over a remote socket connection. For someone who understood the implications of the whole thing, it was huge

We had tea in between and got Tshirts and certificates from the counter. Eldhose, me, Yadu and harish hooked up after the sessions and had a great ‘Mallu’ time.

From IGDS

It was yet another of those unforgettable experiences, similar to one we had for Ficci frames. All thanks to the great event by Saltmarch, Wifi by Airtel and the great sponsors. We understood that our choices for the year 2010 were correct and got some solid information regarding online gaming sector. Looking for ward to a bigger event next time.

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We had a recent solar eclipse which was the longest for some decades to come. This made me realise that i had not posted about my Kanyakumari trip with my brother where the Sun had actually cheated on us.

The eclipse was beautiful and we watched the glory through some expensive video-graphic glasses as well as cheap Xray films. This one was an annular eclipse and hence the beautiful ring of fire was missed fro our place.

So me and bro embarked on this journey to KK, not in search of some search for inner meaning or greater spiritual good, but curious to see what the heck it was all about. It was holiday season being newyear and xmas week and we had not booked any accommodations. We thought it would be just fine to get on the bus and check out accommodations when we get there. Well we were wrong Now unless my good friend Shyam chand had not booked us tickets for the bus online through credit card over the KSRTC online registration we could have not even started the journey. It was total fun to walk into a fully crowded bus with as much people waiting outside to get in and claim our seats with a piece of printed paper. WOW! But although we got the seats, it was a pain and we could not get any sleep. We stated the journey at 9pm fro ernakulam and reached Trivandrum bus station at 2.15 am. We had some relaxing and late night tea. We found that the next bus to KK wa gonna start at 5.30 am. So we took platform tickets to the nearby railway station and tried to get some sleep on the benches there Now when we came back the enquiry officer didnt bother to tell us that the bus was at the other end of the bus station. We almost missed the bus as we ran to get the bus at the last minute and ofcourse didnt get any seats A main way point on the way was nagercoil, and we understood that we will have to make it back there to catch a bus back to Tvm.

As we started approaching the tamil district it started raining. It was drastic change in environments and system as we passed on from Kerala to Tamil nadu. We could only watch in awe at the robust cultivated land featuring all kinds of stuff. Bananas looked like coconuts It suddenly started raining and we were alarmed. Now some new info dawned on me, that always check the weather report before you venture into some natural beauty. We reached at KK early morning arounf 7.30 and started looking for accommodations. Those available were running at Rs1500 plus taxes and were premium non AC ones. After so walking around one agent came along and got us a normal room for Rs 500. I gave him 20Rs commission and saw that he got 100 rs or more from the hotel manager. We had to wait till the cleaning got completed for the rooms and checked in at 8.30. We walked around and did some shopping.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We bought some seashells for Rs 50 each, a seashell garland for Rs 20 and white and dark ying yang pebbles for Rs 20 each. The shore area was full of shops and majority were selling sea shells. It was Sabarimala season and the crowd was full of ayyapans. We had expected to see some colorful crowd but were really disappointed at that. We could see the Vivekananda rock and the Thiruvalluvar statue.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

Idly vada costed Rs 25 and we were really hungry. To our disappointment we found that there were no beaches in KK. We had hoped to have dive at the ocean and spent some time swimming. We noticed a pebble catcher with e small sack who filtered the sea water and found pebbles and different colored stones. There were genuine looking pearl like stones being sold for Rs 10 each.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We decided to go to the KK temple and got in the huge line. After some time we thought it was a waste of time and wanted to get out. In the on rush of the crowd we got into another line and were in front of the diety instantly. Now it cost us Rs 20 to take some kind of ticket and see her holiness Hmm. Outside the temple the prasadam was in the shape of a huge laddu. It cost us Rs 50 but then it surely made mom happy.
There was a building outside which was Ghandhi memorial and we took some time off to rest under it.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

Now it was time to visit the vivekananda rock. The line was huge but it was moving at a steady pace. There were 2 boats shuttling to and fro from the rocks taking visitors. We got it one of those and had a rollercoaster session untill we reached the rock.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We could see the multicolored sea in a 180 degree view. The statue was very close but not accessible due to renovation work. We took some photos and planned our way back as we had to have some food. We had 3 chappathis and Chillichicken from the rarest of non-veg hotels around there. It cost Rs 185 and was a bad decision. It was evening and we were looking forward to seeing the Sun set. We approached the view tower and took tickets for Rs 3.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

But it was really cloudy and we could only catch half of the sun in the horizon.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

But we enjoyed the ravishing sea and its terrifying savageness.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

So we decided to stay for the night and try watching the sun rise early morning. We had the idea to try booking the KK express train and got into an internet cafe to check for schedules. We decided to walk to the railway station and check for the train details and if possible book a ticket. We found a beautiful girl at ticket counter and she explained that there is no need to book tickets as we could easily get sleeper tickets in morning itself. We bought pirottas and chicken fry from a local thatukada for Rs 65 and a KF beer for Rs110. After some freshening up we went for a walk and felt the night breeze.
We slept sound that night and woke up at 5.45 to see the sunrise. Sun cheated us bigtime this time around and it was no where to be seen. So we packed up and went to the railway station to board the train at 10.30 am.

From Kanyakumari 25th Dec 09

We had lots of vacant seats and had a relaxed journey back with bro sleeping it off on the upper berth. So we could not see the sun rise or set in its glory. I will be visiting KK again to see the view, but that time i am gonna check the weather in advance.

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As part of my interest in Adobe technologies, I had been part of Kerala Adobe User group. Trying to build a community of Adobe technology users to share info and support each other. I have hosted the UG site at godsowsdevelopers. We had a very successful user group meeting at Oberon mall on 12th Dec 2009. Being the first meeting it was conducted on an unofficial manner in order to measure the attendance and support of the members and as a bench mark to plan ahead for future meetups.

From Adibe User Group meet 12th Dec 09

I would be entirely grateful to Mr. Vipin Chandran and all the members of Toobler for making the event a success. Majority attendees were from toobler under the guidance of Jerry and Bobbin. We had SEO specialists, PHP expert, Artists (award winning at that), cold fusion expert, Flex and flash developers.

From Adibe User Group meet 12th Dec 09

We started off when the team from toobler reached us. We were joined by Musavir and couple of others later on. We had general discussions, introductions and the distribution of the Adobe goodies. We venue was not exactly suitable for open discussions as there was this music going on. Yet once vipin joined us things heated up as he took everything into control with expert views and opinions from his vast experience with Adobe software.

From Adibe User Group meet 12th Dec 09

Later on we decided to have a stand up talk anchored by Vipin where we had some discussions on web services, flex 4, Cold fusion Builder etc. He advised on how to move forward with the group and gave some valid points regarding other User groups and meeting which he had known in his 9+ years of industrial experience.

From Adibe User Group meet 12th Dec 09

We all had a lot to learn from the bits of info he was sharing. He also told the team about planning the next meeting more officially with dedicated sessions and support infrastructure. Later on we planned about spreading awareness about the user group among other IT companies and institutions and taking it to the next level in 2010. We have decided to conduct next UG meet in Kochi itself at a more dedicated meeting space with projectors and sessions. All those who missed out on this one are welcome to join up and be active in strengthening the activities and spreading the news.

Special thanks to all those who attended

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So I had the opportunity to take a full day workshop on Blender at the Engineering college, ASIET at Kalady. It was organised as part of the software freedom day by the Computer Science students at the college.

From Drop Box

I had prepared a lot this time around which covered all segments of character modeling and animation. Mr. Vishnu from the college who had contacted me for the workshop, had mentioned that all students were interested in character development. College turned out to be highly disciplined and all the students were already present and seated when i arrived. Was a bit late for that matter and thanks to some real driving from bro’s part, we reached almost on time. Manoj was with me for the workshop. I had a meeting with the principal and HOD at the principals room. We talked about how 3d art can be used for inter college competitions and the betterment of students.

From Drop Box

I used my mac mini for the demonstration and blender worked just fine. The students helped screen the 2 ope movies in blender. I also showed them some games which were developed in blender along with final character rigs for some of my characters and some professional characters.

From Drop Box

The sad thing was that, i could not even take 20% of what i had originally prepared. Well but i hope i had instilled some interest among the students there.

From Drop Box

Session at Amrita

Related posts:

1. My Session on Blender

Thats a funny heading, i know. But then i felt we were all a little bit older and reserved this time around for the team trip. May be it was because of missing Vijesh and the eye sore-ed Rajesh. But then it remains a fact that we all were older and when we saw the gang of college students enjoying under the waterfalls, nostalgia and old memories rushed in. So it was time for another Csharks teamtrip, another year completed for Csharks and a recession year at that too. As the majority didnt want to walk too much as last time it was full of trekking, we decided to keep it simple by visiting Munnar and near by places.
First stop was the inevitable Cheeyappara Kuth, waterfall on the way to Adimali.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

It was rainy season and both Valara and Cheeyappara waterfalls looked awesome. We had to pick up princy on the way as we were leaving early morning. My mother was there as a senior security officer for Csharks. Next stop was echo point, which was just an echo of the old spot. No more real echo, but the scenery was breathtaking. There was a confusion whether to go for boating or not, we decided not to. We had a shopping spree around that place and Abhi was eager to get going.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

Now it was time for the awesome tea slopes of Munnar. cannot explain their beauty as you just have to see the whole horizon filled with tea plantations.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

We had photo sessions around Echo point and in between the tea plantations. The leeches were severe trouble and all were suddenly over conscious. As usual i saw a leach trying to enter my shoes. Shyju got one attached to himself. Kailas came to rescue with a match. The next stop was Topstation. There was an entry fee of Rs15 per person and we got a discount at that place. We could get magnificent views of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This place actually belonged to Tamil Nadu.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

We walked down to the different view points and took some single photos. We also had access to wild oranges and we ravaged the orange tree. We enjoyed the beauty of the place for some time and decided to spent some time and have food at Kundala. Kundala had it all, but also had rain. It was a beautiful place with a dam, boating, a pine forest and horse riding. Initially it was raining and the boats were not being engaged.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

We decided to have some food. Breadomlete was the only option available.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

After food the rain was gone and team formed groups to go for boating. It was 1 hour row boating and pedal boating. Shyju and Abhi who led the row boat took some time to get used to the thing. They were initially going in circles.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

Me and Eldhose went for horse riding based on the excellent negotiating talents of Eldhose. I cant explain how the riding was on such an open forum, but lets say it was an unforgettable experience. I recommend all males try it once.

From Munnar Trip Csharks Aug 09

On the way back we spent some time at Mattupetty dam and had some shooting practice. Some among the team had troubles with their stomach due to untimely food, but then it was sorted out. We had food at a basic restaurant at Adimali on the way back. We were curious of rajesh’s red eye but it turned out not to be a problem. Abhi had a bit of a altitude trouble when on the way back he had a stomach cleaning session.We were back early when compared to the other tours. We dropped princy at her place and got back safe to our office complex.

Other Csharks trip 1
Csharks Trip 2

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So this was the big event of the whole trip. I squeezed this one in and made everyone else follow suite. Let me tell you that such a trip attempt for 1 day visit from Mumbai to both the caves is something that is to be perfectly planned. We got in our Bus from Thane to Aurangabad at 11 pm at night which was Netha Volvo and the tickets ran at Rs450. We had the pleasure of knowing a tour agency who controlled the ‘Royal cars’ which had bus and cars arranged for travel. An Indica car with AC for the whole day cost Rs3000 and without AC it will be around Rs2000. (Royal Cars owner:9823533532, Mankesh Driver:9765449330). The AC was good and we were in shorts, all pumped up. We reached Aurangabad at 7am the next day.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The indica was exactly at the spot where we were getting down, we had called the driver to sync up. Now we had to change and freshen up, this was something which we didnt plan ahead. So we had real problem finding a good accomodation for single day and it cost us Rs800, but could have bargained for less if we had time. After a superfast bath we left some of our stuff at the hotel room and started journey to Ajanta. Ajanta is 100 Kms from Aurangabad. Just before we reached Ajanta there was this local Dhaba where we had Poori Bhaji and Milk and it was damn economical.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The driver told us that there was the Himroo handicrafts sarees available nearby which costed upto 11 lakhs per saree. The Abhi-Ash wedding bulk booked these ones from here, he said. Remnants of old forts and palaces were scattered all the way. We saw the Ajanta village which was enclosed in an old fort fence. We came to Ajanta valley where we needed to take tickets and some other passes. We gave signed agreement that our photos will be used for non commercial purposes. Also there was a ticket for using light inside the cave, which meant we needed to carry extra lights. If we dont have extra light the guides inside the caves had LED torches to help, but you needed to pay them.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

There are AC/non AC buses going up and down the road to Ajanta. You will need to take tickets for these too.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

Guys dont hire external guides, just buy the guide book for Rs20, dont offer anything more than this. The book depicts all the caves you need to visit and the total layout. The initial scene of the horse shoe cave structure was unique and you wont get to see something like this anywhere else. I cant possibly explain the caves and their architecture. There are loads of murals and sculptures inside the caves which are primarily Buddhist.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

In each cave you will get guides who will tell kinds of stories about the murals and how the cave was built. You can give Rs20 in each cave.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

There is a big reclining Buddha in cave number 26 and other good caves can be 9,15,16 and 21.
There is a viewpoint in the middle to the other side of the rived that flows below the horseshoe. There is this small hill which sits in the middle which offers good view of the whole caves structure.
But as we didnt have much time, we hurried back and even skipped the beer parlor at the bottom. Bargained with the shopkeepers around for some pictures of the caves and bought some to be framed later. Now we had to get back all the way to Aurangabad and the start for Ellora. So the driver was speeding away when suddenly one of the tyres was blown away.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

It was the driver who saved the day with his presence of mind and super fast tyre change skills. We skidded for 50 mts on the road until we came to stop. Ellora was 30kms from Aurangabad in another direction. We had our food in a near by hotel. The caves here was spread all around the place and there were Autos running among them. The caves are mixture of Brahmin, Jain and Bhuddha cultures. Hindu carvings were enormous and we just lost our ways inside Kailasa cave.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

We just get to think that these people had nothing else to do back then. Dont miss Cave 16-Kailasa, 6,10, 30, 31 and 32. We misses the Indraprastha caves which were a little far away. The driver had booked return tickets by phone and we saw Daulatabad Fort and panchakki on the way back. Panchakki is just a waste of time and effort, but daulatabad can be a hideous climb to endure. If you loose your step you are a goner.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

At Aurangabad we also had the pleasure to see the Taj replica, Bibi ka Maqbara. It was delightful for me to compare the structures as i had visited the Taj. It looked almost the same if you analysed from far away and thus didnt notice the size difference.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The caves closed at 6pm, just in case and they are not open on 2 different days(mon/tue) respectively each week. We started back at 9.45 Pm and reached back at Thane at 8 am due to some delay with roadblocks.
We went for shopping the next days and saw 2 movies, Xmen Origins-wolverine and Terminator salvation. T-IV was an opening show at 7.45Am which we enjoyed in an almost empty multiplex with reclining sofa chairs. The journey ended when we got on train at 4.50 back to Kerala. The train journey was fun as we had this full gang of 150 ppl who got on this Garib Rath with out tickets. We had to adjust with them as they had missed their train and paid some money to the TT. These people were manual laborers coming to Kerala. It was so evident fro their expression that they considered Kerala like a heaven, like US for us. Amazing.

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This day was supposed to be a vegetarian day. We all were having a heavy stomach after the other day’s chicken bash. First stop was 4D cinema at the Orama 4D theatre in the Atria Mall. It was recommended by Eldhose, but i had say you save the money. Its a 3D film with physical feedback through the chairs and surroundings. We got our ass poked, face sprayed with water and felt air pumped at different points on the body. The cost of the show was Rs240 per person for 15mins. We saw that lots of tour planners have booked the shows and we had to wait till noon for our show. This one was among the default tour plan list for the Mumbai tour trips. After the show we roamed around the Rolls Royce with watering mouths.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

We had some simple doughnuts at the food cafe and no one was feeling particularly hungry. We had a walk about the worli seaface. Here too te water looked damn filthy. Cousins were keeping the distance while small kids were enjoying the sea water sprayed from the sea face.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

It rained heavily on our way back, but then we never minded. There were couples everywhere enjoying their private moments and sharing it with us. Rain didnt matter to them too. We tried vegetarian food by trying pau bhaji, onion oothappam and stuff. Then we went to Juhu beach, the all so famous celebrity residential beach. The beach was crowded like no tomorrow. It was majorly normal people and indian tourists. No celebrity was seem anywhere and we missed foreigners too.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The beach was huge and there were more than 10 football competitions going on among the local gangs all around the beach. We had a walk along the beach which made us realise how withdrawn the sea really was. Water was supposed to come upto the cocconut groves and it was like 100 mts withdrawn at that time. Tides would have a big effect on this beach.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

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Related posts:

1. Mumbai Trip – VT, Taj and GOI
2. Mumbai Trip – Train journey

Majority of the city traveling was done in the Honda City with Jubind Driver ‘Mama’, who turned out to be best in the business. Traffic in Mumbai is one of a kind, you just got to see it to understand. First visit was Victoria Terminus or the Chatrapathy Shivaji Terminal. We got it without a ticket and saw metal detectors and policemen/policewomen on alert. Lots of trains having their last stop here and huge crowd was coming out in the morning time. I just could not imagine a better place for those terrorists to chose, no one would miss in such a crowd.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

We went to Manish market and Crawford Market in search of game cds and saw all kinds of electronic, textile and other goods there. Jubin then took us for his treat at a Zafrani hotel. We ate all kinds of chicken – Mughal, Afghani and what not. After this it was time for hanging gardens, which no one should try if on a tight schedule. On the way was Chowpatty beach and Marine Drive.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

We had a relaxation session at the hanging gardens, where there was nothing much to see. Then we went to fashion street near oval maidan which is the famous stadium of sachin tendulkar. We bought lots of cheap dress from the street for low prices as Rs100.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

Then we visited the terror attack places, the famous Leopold cafe which was full of foreigners. At the Taj there was huge Indian crowd who were mostly tourists. We could take a boat to elephante caves from here, but we chose not to as it was already late. The renovation work for Taj was in progress and we could see the floor which was on fire.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

The Gateway of India was just infront of the Taj. The sea water looked real bad and was dark brown in color. Water was sprayed into the roads as the waves smashed to the seaface. We decided to enjoy the night view of Taj with the lights on.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

We went to Bademiyan open air roadside restaurant to eat and had a bash with all kinds of chicken items.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

Thus day 2 ended with out much crowd seeing. We were disappointed but at the quality of the crowd at Mumbai, we expected more colors.

The first post on the trip

Related posts:

1. Mumbai Trip – Train journey
2. Mumbai Trip – Worli, Juhu, 4D

Had a great one week getaway to Mumbai with my brother and cousins. The idea was there always, but i could not find the right time as all my cousins were engineering students and getting a vacations and making it coincide with a week break in my time schedule was near impossible task. But then we got
the break in june and me, my brother jeevan and cousin ashwath were on our way to mumbai. We
had our aunty and cousin jubin, who is now having his training in federal bank after his engineering.
The tickets were booked by ashwath and he was the original tour coordinator. So we took the netravati train from Ernakulam and got on in the general compartment. Although we could fo to the AC as we had booked the same train to mumbai, i was kinda hesitant. The general trip was a killer and we all were mashed up in the heavy crowd till we reached trissur. At trissur we were joined by vijay and ashwath. Vijay was the other cousin and had come to see us. He had this wish to join us but had
classes. The tickets were booked in tatkal and i had my berth in B1-52 and the other 2 had in B2. We
had booked normal tickets too which were always in waiting list and we had to cancel it.  had bought some 3/4ths to wear in Mumbai as they were alien to our regional ‘mundu’. Shaym had chappathy and bread with cheese and tomaro curry which was kinda intuitive from Mani aunty. Chappathy wrapped in tomato was a new thing to us.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

I woke up at 6 when the train was traveling though goa. It was beautiful, it was greenery everywhere.
I never felt that i ever exited kerala. It was my first konkan experience. I had always traveled in
the other routes and exiting kerala was always painful as we had to endure barren wastelands and
rocky mountains with thorny bushes scattered everywhere. THis was a totally new experience, nature in
all its marvel. We saw viaducts and hundreds of tunnels. Passing through tunnels were really fun for
the firsttimers. For once it will be total darkness, then there will be a ray of light, then blast of
light.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

Lots of farmers were working in the fields below and we all enjoyed the beautiful kerala like
sceneries. Then after some times the tunnels started to be a boring sight. As we approached Mumbai it started to rain. It was the first monsoon tain in mumbai and we thought our trip was spoiled. But it
was a welcome sight as it broke all conventions that i had about bombay.We couls see low lying mist, and slow rain. There were no big bldingd or any industrial look to the place. There were mountains
looming above and around the city. I never thought i could see mountains and greenery inside a metro. We were welcomed by a last tunnel as we approached thane station. We saw numerous suburban trains rocketing past us.

From Mumbai Trip 20-26 jun 09

Jubin was there to welcome us and we took off to their flat at Raheja gardens in the honda city. The
day was for resting and we started to see the T20 finals which turned out boring. So we went to Rmall
which was a mall nearby, it was claimed to be the first mall in India. We had a whiskey for Rs10
Getting back we had a great talk with each other catching up and planning for the days ahead.

Now onto day 1.

Related posts:

1. Mumbai Trip – VT, Taj and GOI
2. Mumbai Trip – Worli, Juhu, 4D

This time it was my third visit to kumarakom. The place has some unforgettable memories for me and this time around it was no less. Here is the post on the earlier one. This time it was a houseboat trip arranged by Arun George for his marriage. Class mates from College of Engineering Chengannur were supposed to join up for the trip and visit him for marriage the other day.

From Kumarakom_May_09

I was the first one to reach the boat as timeliness was an asset with all my friends and they were supposed to reach the place at 11.30

From Kumarakom_May_09

I waited for them to join up and had a chat with the people of the boat. Here are the details on the boat if any one want to contact – Alumparanbil, Cheepunkal, Kumarakom North, 0481-2525797 (Soji-9846184654)
It will cost you around 11000Rs for one day trip on the boat. It had 3 bed rooms and sun deck with vcd tv on board. We had natural cocconut drinks on arrival and the food was commendably good.

From Kumarakom_May_09

It was the day of election results and thanks to hightech Jyothis we had live net on blackberry and laptop.

From Kumarakom_May_09

We had smirmoff vodka sponsored by AGT, but there would be no fun without the local Toddy So we came ashore at R-block, which was an artificial island created by Murikkan and taken over by the Govt. He had cultivated cocconut in the whole island and it was the hub for Toddy. We had 5 litres for Rs70/Ltr.

From Kumarakom_May_09

But just before having the drinks we decided to take a bath in the salty waters on vembanad lake. It was really shallow and we had some limited fun in it as the water was real salty.

From Kumarakom_May_09

Now inside the boat too the water supply was salty and i got informed that it was seasonal when the lake water gets salty due to onrush of seawater. Licenses for boat to travel was till 6 pm at night, after which they had to be ashore. So some of our friends were coming to join us at night, it was a tricky place to find as we were inside remote areas of the lake. But we ultimately found each other in the thick of the night.

Heated political discussions were there all through out the night when all the topics under the sun were seriously covered. I found myself sleeping on the sun deck that night as a watchman for the boat. It was fun despite the mosquitoes. Next day we arose to the magnificent sight of migratory birds in the fields near by.

From Kumarakom_May_09

We got ashore near cheepunkal bridge at 9am and were ready for the marriage at kottayam.

Related posts:

1. A Trip to Kumarakom