Zambia travelogues

Getting the Zambia diaries out has taken longer than I expected, thanks to the continuous barrage of work that I was submerged in. During the closing phase of my project in Zambia, we were under so much work that I had actually begun to wonder if there would be anything at all to write in them. Fortunately, we got a breather in early march to go to the couple of relatively famous places in Zambia and an opportunity for me to flaunt them here. I will also try to highlight key points of a trip that we took to Lusaka, capital city of Zambia, in December. I will highlight the top places that we went, some of the activities that I will recommend and other such general stuff.

So without further ado, here we go…

Victoria Falls: The biggest attraction of Zambia; 1.7 km long falls at the peak season are a sight second to none. It was an exhilarating feeling to be so close to a thunderous waterfall, so loud that you can’t hear yourself even think. We were so excited to be at the site that we actually went again the next day so that we could enjoy it once more. We almost walked with the flowing water till the point it became the fall. Then there is a point called “Knife Bridge” where the falling water just flows underneath the bridge with the water droplets from this falling water getting caught in an upward draft and then falling like a rain. So, it would seem that the point was in a state of perpetual rainfall. So much so that despite wearing a raincoat, we were soaked to the inners. But the joy of standing defiant at that point is indescribable. In fact, after so many words, I still feel that I haven’t been able to do a justice to the wondrous nature of the falls.

Lion walk: By and far the biggest attraction to me. I love interacting with animals in a way most people would consider maniacal. While in the farm, we got a chance to hold, pat and otherwise interact with three leopards, two lionesses and one lion. And trust me! I milked the most out of it. And the thrill!!! Absolutely incomparable.

Elephant ride: We actually began our day with this ride. An hour long ride on an elephant across wild forest was a great experience. But an even better feeling was feeding them at the end of the trip and getting them to salute you. :)

Microlight: 15 minutes of open single seater plane, flying over the Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe with nothing to secure you to your seat than a flimsy seat belt. It couldn’t get any better than that. Actually there was another option to fly – through a helicopter but our group unanimously decided to go for the former option and have loads more fun. Like everything, a bit steep on price at around 9000 rs. (150 USD) but worth every cent of it!

Kalimba Reptile Park: On of my desire for a long time had been to hold a snake in my hands. Once, some 4 years back when I was in Orissa/India, I got a chance to almost hold a snake in my hands. So when I got a chance to hold a python in Kalimba Reptile Park, my joy knew no bounds. The park had a ton of crocodiles (largest of which they claimed was around 5 meters), several pythons and many other species of snakes.

I had a wondrous opportunity to hold a python the way you only see in movies but never get to do in reality and a smaller domestic brown snake. The smaller snake was so cute and pliable that I almost bought one for home. ALMOST because then I remembered that I will be disowned by my folks if they even realized that I was thinking about such a thing.

Chaminuka Game Reserve, Protea Safari lodge: If you go to Zambia and have a couple of days of spare time, I would strongly suggest that instead of staying in a hotel and then going for a safari ride; you book yourself into one of these two places. These are safari lodges which are situated in the middle of a safari range. This way, you get to have a night time experience of staying in the safari as well several side trips reserved for booked guests such as cheese tasting etc. Not to mention the surreal night time feel of the jungle, while you sip tea in a wooden terrace overlooking a lake where the animals are drinking water. I hope you get the idea!!!

Bungee jumping combo: This particular bungee jumping had 3 options – ‘Famous 111m Bungee Jump’, Bridge Swing & Bridge Slide. With a perpetual fear of dying in a high speed crash with something, I did not participate in this activity. My 3 friends, however, did and I could see how much they enjoyed it. At around 12k rs (USD 200), it was a bit steep but worth every rupee in the adrenaline and excitement it helps generate. And even better part of this was that this was done on a bridge after the falls. Hence there were sufficient water vapors in the air to cause beautiful rainbows with the right amount of sun. And I made my best effort to capture some of that.

Artifact shopping: Zambia has a lot of copper mines. So, one of the artifacts that you can look for are paintings etched, carved on copper plates and sheets. Like all the African nations, there are a lot of neat handicraft items which can be picked from the flea markets such as Wooden figurines, Carved chess sets, Cloth and Papyrus paintings, Tribal masks, Seed paintings etc. 

Being a numismatic, I always cherish a chance to collect coins of the country. With the coins being reintroduced in circulation after couple of years, the older coinage was hard to find. But fortunately, I was able to amass a complete set of Zambia coins. Not only that, I was able to assemble a complete set of Zimbabwe coins as well. And that was a difficult treat as the coins have not been in circulation there for some with current currency reaching up to the denomination of 5 trillion Zimbabwe. In fact, I saw 1 trillion and 5 trillion Zimbabwe notes.

Sunset cruise: To be very honest, this is one thing which I would suggest you skip. But that’s my view. I feel like spending half a day just to watch a sunset is a sheer waste of time; and time which could be wonderfully utilized elsewhere such as going to the falls once more or even one more trip to the safari lodges.

Several adjoining African countries: Zambia shares its border with several other countries like Zimbabwe, Congo etc. It is often a tourist thing to do to take a short trip to the border and crossover a 2-3 hr jaunt across the border. And in the process, if you get couple of good deals on the way; who is complaining, right?

Hope that the descriptions and the sights might have convinced some of you to take the trip at the next possible opportunity. And trust me; you would not end up regretting it.

2010 - The year that went by!!!

With 3 days to go to before we start on despoiling the next year (and indeed mark the beginning of a new decade), I would like to have a quick look at all that we have been able to accomplish in the year that went by.

To say that 2010 was an eventful year would be an understatement. In 2010, we witnesses events as widespread as various foreign dignitaries visiting India, to India hosting CWG and being successful to an extent, to the various scams, fevers ranging from RAJNI FEVER to Dengue to Sachin fever; having to chose between Sheila and Munni and whether Badnaam is better than Jawan or vice versa.

The year gave Indians a lot to think about but like everything else, Munni and Sheila would remain in our memories while the culprits behind the scams soon be forgotten and a decade later be acquitted because of the lack of evidence and allowed to go scot free on their private island in Hawaii (probably or it could even be a crater in Mars for all I care)

So a quick recap of 2010 is in order.

2010: An icon passes away

One person who was single handedly responsible for the demise of a promising state, the one who can be, arguably, be held responsible for the beginning for all that is wrong in the, once promising, eastern state of WB. One person who was very successfully able to tap into the emotions of an average Bengali, empathize with their empathy of the poor and impoverished. Even as he passed away, more people were interested in talking about him and his legacies than working (as if they ever were). And interestingly, the rumors of his death had started floating around a week before he actually passed away. An interesting read here.

2010: An year of scams (CWG, 2G, Adarsh housing scam, Desi wikileaks – Radia Tapes)

It like a badly written storyline in which as each villain passes us by, as the story proceeds, newer breed of villains turn up to take the limelight just to keep the story going on. The tragedy is that each villain, and correspondingly each scam, keeps on getting bigger and bigger with each passing scam. Its like “One Two ka Four”… I am still waiting for “Four Two ka One”. This has been a year when it has actually become quite evident that the real power, fame and money lie with those who DO NOT abide by the rules. An interesting read here.

2010: Shakira’s Waka Waka vs. Munni’s Badnami vs Sheila’s Jawani

One of the few things which actually provided a respite to the junta of Delhi from the above mentioned scams, IT employees getting raped and foreigners getting molested. Of course in addition to the Yana Gupta episode :D. A downside was that people were expected to choose between the two desi items. This is not fair. We like both and love both equally. So why choose?

2010: Obama hamare ghar padhare

With India providing fifty thousand jobs to the US, I think it is high that dollar be started to be valued in INR (however low it may be at present). Isn’t India going to become a superpower in the next 10-15 years? I think this marks a beginning of that. An interesting read here.

2010: The year of fevers

The year witnessed a mass outbreak of dengue cases, especially in national capital. the nation, however, was more occupied with the Robot-Rajni fever with all aspects of chuck Norris modified Rajni suited jokes. Of course after the plethora of Sheila-Kalmadi-CWG jokes. All forms of social networking were abundant with the various forms of these jokes making rounds. Not only online, several telecoms companies made a lot of money with these SMS'es doing rounds. Towards the end, Rajni met his match or as Joker said "Unstoppable force met with an immovable object" (Who is who is left to reader's discerning. Tendulkar's yet another record, this time dedicated to his father, left the entire nation awestruck and proved that he did own the title of "GOD".

These are but a few of many.. will keep on adding to the list… feel free to add more :D

So 2011 here we come.

Some interesting, and comprehensive, flashbacks at here and here.

PS: 2011 will be eventful year for me as well as I have a grand event planned in the year. Looking forward to it!!!

Images courtesy: thelatestnews.in, moviesceleb.com, buzzg.com, topnews.in, blogs.reuters.com, solidindian.com, timescontent.com, istockphoto.com

Memories

Has it ever happened to you that came across some old memorablia of earlier years, like a greeting card you made when you were 6, or a tiny glass rose that you gifted to someone dear. Do you feel nostalgic about those times? All the memories you had of that time.

Coming to present, do you think that we would be feeling nostalgic about what we blog today, or tweet or share on FB?

Even today, it is the physical experience that we remember... The time you pulled an all nighter finishing a project, the time you felt like practically killing the next guy, the time when you were so over joyed that you could not restrain your enthusiasm to share some news with some one.

Farewell Kolkata - Part 2

A brief about some of the friends that I was with at CIL. It was a unique experience being with all of them and we shared a lot of memories amongst us. Ones that will surely last a lifetime.

Jaggu: Let him be the way he is… If you disturb him you will be greeted with a baleful stare. He is odd but in a good way. He is one person that will do weird things, or not do sensible things, just because his mood dictated him that way. He is also a terrific cook. He makes food for the most of us over there and boy was it tasty or what. He used to make lot of PJs but now, apparently, he has given them up (Raaaaaiiiiiight!). Check some out here. (I know right isn’t spelt like that but I wanted to make it sound really long)

Sachit: At more than six foot, and a burly physique supporting it, this giant of a guy could not be in more contrast to his true nature. He is a real soft spoken person and likes to watch TV series… A whole lot of them. Every week. But he is one person that you know that you can depend upon. I am sure that he will do wonders in the world of I-banking once he gets there.

KK: If I have to picture him, I will picture him as wearing a half sleeve T-shit, faded blue jeans, S**** in the left hand and mobile in the right (Talking to a particular female... same always). As a friend of mine said, KK has only ON and OFF stage. This person doesn’t have any intermediate stages. He will either sit (or rather talk on his phone while smoking) or just blow his top off. And that has nothing to do with the significance of the issue at hand.

Raja: A white Sardarji who is known for wearing Sunglasses all time long (atleast when he is not in his room). He has some particular habits like having some “calls” at odd hours and at strange frequency, or like his sleeping habits (I have only heard of it) but none of which I would get into now. He always has a smile on his face and he is always looking for an opportunity to what’s called in hindi as “kisski maarna”.

Gopesh: “Yaar roti kyyon nahin mangwayi?” would probably be the first thing that he would say at a dinner. He is a fanatic about proper food and having rotis with his food. He is a good person, albeit with a strange sense of humour which may not be digestible to all. And heaven forbid if you are stuck with the diabolical combination of Jaggu and Gopesh.

Priyanka: I think the smallest in the entire gang of MTs, don’t let her size fool you. She is sharp as a thorn (oops!). She is a good company to be with, fun and really smart. But one thing that you remember the most about her is her smile and her unique way of saying Bye. And she is a reasonably well cook as well (No offence Jaggu.. You are the best)

Ritu: She cooks really different kinds of foods but that’s not to say that it is not good. In fact, it is amongst the more tasty ones that I have had. But she is very unique in the way that despite the fact that she had a paternal aunt in the city, she decided to go solo and fend for herself by staying in the guesthouse. And with her mellifluous tones, she makes sure that you can’t ignore her as you feel she is all around you. But she has an amazing patience with kids running all around her room and even making an effort to teach them a thing or two.

Aniruddha: God forbid if you dare to surf net when it is his chance to. Be prepared to be faced with a sulky Pal. An avid gamer by nature, he loves playing DOTA, Warcraft and what all. And he actually loves to play all these games. I mean REALLY LOVES. At all times. Even between breaks from his extensive SUTTA and Phone routine as well. And he gains an otherworldly joy when he defeats the CPU in any game. Since he was with my field training, I spent an extensive time with him. One instance I remember is when one of officers staying with us at the MCL guest house said to me “Please tell that guy with you… you know the one that is on phone at all times, to smoke less”. And that was whne we were almost next door neighbours for more than a month and a half. One thing that is very particular about Pal is that he doesn’t like to eat Roti… Either Poori Sabji or a non veg item or South Indian. Period. Don’t ask me why.

Sarita: “Ungli Neeche”. She is very particular about these things. But I must admit she is one hell of a person. Very hard working by nature; I have seen her read through reports so thick none of us would have ever dared to even open them. Even some of the senior officers were exceptionally impressed by the thoroughness of this gal and the due diligence with which she is known to read through the report. Though, in their group (you know which one I am talking about), she is notorious for not keeping back the laptop at the designated place.

Sorry that I can’t write about Pooja, Vineet, Gaurav and Shivaji because I couldn’t have a lot of interactions with them and so couldn’t catch a lot of their traits… Except one thing for Vineet.. That guy loves his bed (Wherever or whichever floor that may be :D)… There was a phase when we would see him in bed when we leave for office and then see him in bed when we come back from office (Still talking about the same day)

PS: If you notice that in this and the previous post, food was mentioned at a lot of places and you felt it out of place… Well food was an important part as being in Kolkata is not easy for Northies especially if one is Vegetarian.

Farewell Kolkata - Part 1

Friday, 12th March, 2010
3:45 PM

I finally left the Kolkata office Coal India for the last time. I really do hope that I don’t have to return to it again... At least not for paper chase. But I would certainly not mind making a trip to meet several of the friends that I made over there.
As I left the office, I was accompanied by Prakash Sir, Rahul, Sachit and KK. Must say that I was truly touched by the gesture because these people took out an hour of their time to drop me to a cab and bid me a farewell… Touching indeed.

A few of the friends that I would like to make special mention of…………………..

Rahul: His name springs first in my mind because he was the closest that we had in our age group in the company. He was an excellent friend and always there for us. We had oodles of good memories, good food (cooked in his kitchen) and lot of good ole bhasad. After all “Bahut Mazze Liye hain humne”.

Prakash sir and family: Theirs was immediately next door family to my apartment in the company allocated accommodation. Their young son and daughter and all the family noises helped me get comfortably settled in the new and never before explored “environment”. They were always there to help us out and of-course sometimes (okay a lot of times) with freshly prepared home cooked delicious food that would sustain you for days altogether. But all said and done, I couldn’t be more thankful of the homelike feeling that they developed on our floor.

Reddi Sir: He may appear to be strict but let me tell you… It’s all a façade. This person really is a very good natured at heart. You ask him something and the first thing that he will do is scare you or question your question your question or something like that before he gives his advice. But truly speaking his advice is amongst the best that you can get.

Vijay Sagar Sir: With more than 6 feet to his stature, and a crop of dashingly white hair; you might think that the guy must some kind of actor or something. Well, partly true as he is in the crop communications and public relations department so that a bit of acting and the stage persona involved there. But that apart, this guy is one hell of a knowledgeable person. Truly intellectual, he can talk on any subject with amazing fluency that you would think that he must have prepared for it before hand.

A special mention to Warriar madam: Thank you very much for those very very tasty Idli, Sambhar and Chutney. Can’t forget it… EVER.

This is but a fraction of the people that I met their and frankly I was surprised how wrong first impressions can turn out to be. When we think of PSUs, we think of old archaic people who do not want to change, still working in the old manners and probably still speaking Victorian English. But I couldn’t be more wrong. True that still a lot of the oldies do actually work in the closed, insulated environment and don’t want to change. But that changing and fast… not as fast that I would have preferred but steadily indeed and I expect that in the next decade or so, the reforms would really take place fully

PS: I am not mentioning other Management Trainees like me because they are all my friends and of-course we were all bonded by the common “sufferings”. :D Though something on them in the next post.

PPS: If you have noticed that there is a lack of mention of Female colleague, it is simply because there is a dearth of them at CIL. OF course MTs don’t count as they have a separate post for them.

PPPS: Everyone mentioned above, other than Rahul, have crossed their 40s.