Who the hell is in school on a sunday until 10 pm?? Is that a life or what? Well, what can i say? You gotta do what you gotta do!

It’s been a hectic week. Took on more work than was my wont. How i managed to live through the week is a miracle in itself. Had a couple of tests – Did OK. Strictly OK. They were my first tryst with the american education and grading system. So think i did alrite.

I’ve been-a-cooking! Paneer bhurji and Pav Bhaji. No more kitchen disasters. I can cook. So, girls rejoice! HAHAHAHA

I love 2 of my classes and hate the other 3. Bad ratio i know. Im skipping my first class. First of many – i would hope.

BTW i think i’ve earned 20 bucks.

Who’s paying me u ask? Nobody. It’s just that if i DONT blog for a sunday (we’re still working out the nitty-gritties), i have to shell out $20! Yea, so now you know. Anyway, i did come up with an interesting section name for all the writings henceforth – Random Musings. Not the most innovative, but it does have a little poetic twang to it.

I went ‘near-BALD’! Not out of some macho tendencies or some innate desires, it was more, much more trivial. It was a fricking accident. I went to a salon called “The Academy of Hair Art”. Not the most promising names and it lived up to its name. I thought i had a good deal for $4.95. But well, what did i know!

After the amateur dude is done with my hair, i have a nice lil black patch at the front of my head and ‘flowing’ hair everywhere else.(Flowing is how that sucker defined it!). I had no option but to go ‘buzz’. Hey, i think it actually turned out OK! No???

Oh i’m in the US….just an update. Salem is a sleepy city. Wayyy different than Bombay. I miss Bombay. I miss my family…i miss my friends….i miss the city! I never knew what people’s fascination with cities was – until now.

Its 8 pm on a Sunday and im in school. In Kyung’s word, i need to ‘get a life’! But hey, even the goddamn restaurants are closed on Sundays in this city!! DUH???? I cannot understand that! Can u?

I think that’s enough musing for today. I hope i saved the $20? Maybe now ill work throughout the week to concoct a story which will save me the 20 bucks on a weekly basis. Oh and the person i have a deal with will pay up if she doesn’t update her blog. She’s 3 hours ahead of me and has an hour to go. Coz i don’t see anything on her blog rite now!! Do i see greenbacks already???

Peace!

We get up pretty late the next morning and realize that we’re stuck looking at each others silly faces again! AND we have no one else’s leg to pull! So we decide we might as well move on to the next leg of our journey – Srinagar. So after a nice HOT shower – yea the emphasis on hot coz hot water is a luxury that we weren’t afforded the past week – we head out into the city to find a ride.

We go back to the travel guy who arranged all our previous trips. The kid there is funny. He keeps going “Tch Tch. Kya baat kar raha hain?” (What are u saying? Rhetorically). N i think the rum had still not worn off. I was openly screwing around with him. After fooling around for a while, we finally managed to get ourselves a not so expensive deal to Srinagar. We were supposed to make a slingshot trip to Srinagar. It generally is a 2 day journey but we were going to do it in a 15 hr run through. Brave Dumbfu$&s.

The day was really uninteresting otherwise. The car would leave at 5:30 so we had time to kill, but nothing much to do. Nikhil got some shopping done and we ate. It was finally time to bid adieu to Leh and all the mountains which by now had started looking wretched and forlorn. We were getting out at the right time!

Bye bye Leh!

Day 10

The Storm

The ride – Oh my god – the ride! We’re riding in a SUV which has 8 – yes – EIGHT people stuffed into it! We obviously had the most screwed up seats ever. After bout 4 hours in that position, we didn’t know if we had legs.

The ride(r) – F%&* the rider! Now i truly believe why India can’t produce world class F1 drivers. They’re shunted into the mountains to be driving these SUVs on the most inhospitable terrain ever. And they do it while singing along to weird Hindi songs and with 7 co-passengers who keep cursing him! He still thinks that he’s on a super highway and his eyes smooth over all the monstrous potholes! Imagine if he were alone and in an F1 car? I reckon he’d have done the trip in about 4 hours. Or well, he’d never be found again. So you get the idea about the driver yea??

The co passengers – The driver and his wife( OH she was HUGGGE! Wonder where the driver got his food. I imagined he makes do with leftovers – if there are any!).

One jerk off – who wouldn’t say what his name was! Until he was pestered by the film maker no end. I still didn’t catch it though. Neither was i interested. I was interested in socking him after about 8 hours in the last seat nursing my ass and non-existent legs.

A Nepali guy – This guy was sitting next to us and showed no signs of discomfort! Must’ve been used to such journeys. He’d been traveling 4 nights already now so maybe fatigue didn’t afford him the luxury to be grumpy. Otherwise, he was pretty uneventful and slept throughout.

A film maker and an English professor – Im itching to call these two ladies a couple because mid way thru the journey we were starting to get that impression. But for want of concrete evidence, il regress. Anyways, the film maker – GODDDD! She TALKED!!! N this was after our encounter with one who needed to be coaxed to talk! We so wished it was her and not this lady! But here she was, trying to make conversation with everyone from the driver to his wife to the jerk off to us and the Nepali guy. The jerk off was sooooo freaked out by her, he recoiled when she tried talking!! I loved her at that moment, but it was short lived. The English professor was alright. Didn’t talk much but was always trying to cozy up to ahem ahem….il stop now.

We were converted. From an almost Semitic attitude to  ‘die-hard, drool over bollywood music fanatics’ in a matter of 15 hours! That’s coz there was no escape. We listened to everything from 1950′s Mohd. Rafi & Kishore Kumar to Urvashi & Patti Rap to the entire discography of Himmesh Reshammiya (dunno how many m’s u have so excuse me Himmesh). So now, back in Bombay, i hum along to the radio all day and get weird looks from my co passengers who wonder what’s gotten into me. It’s nothing darlings. I like to call it the Leh effect. Made me more patriotic you see.

The journey, owing to all the above factors was in part nightmarish, in part drab and in part friggin enjoyable! We passed through Kargil & Drass & the intimidating Zozila Pass through the night but didn’t stop over. But hey 2 things which exist even in the remotest part of India – Maggi Noodles and State Bank of India!! You can find these two things EVERYWHERE here! Which is truly amazing!

So we reach Srinagar. By the time i get off, i can crack a walnut with my ass cheeks! We’ve managed a coup of sorts by managing to get a Houseboat for just Rs. 500! We were skeptical at first, but boy were we surprised!

We got off at Nagin Lake in Srinagar where our houseboat was…err… docked? It is actually THE most beautiful lake in the city. As for Dal Lake – the less we say the better. We have the mosttttt beautiful houseboat allll to ourselves. 2 bedrooms, living room with tele and radio, kitchen, a toilet with a Western pot and Hot water with a bath tub!! 5 STAR I’d say! Food is for Rs. 50 per meal for 2 people! Yup! I recommend Qadir’s Palace to anyone going to Srinagar. Drop me a line for details about this place. Great place, great host ( little irritating, but you can live with that).

After freshening up, moistening our legs and backsides, we decide to do a little recce into Srinagar. We go to the 3 most beautiful mosques i’ve ever seen – Hazratbal, Shah-e- Hamdan and Jamia Masjid. Each with its own identity and peculiarities.

Now, one of the most interesting and adventurous part of our trip. We come out of Jamia Masjid, which is in Old Srinagar. This part of the city is known to be the most beautiful but also the most volatile and violent. We experienced it first hand. There was already some disconcert in the city due to some political issues. It snowballed coz someone was shot in this part of the city the same day we were at Jamia. So, we step out of the mosque.

We’re just taking in the cityscape and being all touristy when i notice this guy tossing a big rock in his hand. Hmmm…odd! The next second he’s hurled it at a bus and BANGGGGG! Crunching glass and someone’s been hit!

Shittttt! We were rooted to the spot when another bus appears and a whole mob of almost a 100 people run towards it, stop it and start to wreck it! Thats when we know we have to scram!! So what do we do? RUNNNNNNN!! So we do…..Run till our lungs want to explode! Then we see a bus which goes to our place….But we aren’t sure we should board it….its windows are already broken!! But our guide, Qadir says its cool. So we board it. All the way back to our houseboat, we have our heads covered and ducking under the other person, half expecting a stone or a mob to burn us down alive!! Even so, we can’t help noticing how beautiful Kashmiri women are! Think about it – Mobs, riots, run for your life, shitting pants – AND YOU STILL- STILL can’t help but be mesmerized by these women!

So yea, the sight of the girls soothes our nerves a little bit and we get back to the houseboat. We’re a little stunned and then we haven’t had too much sleep the past night either. So we decide to call it a day and see what tomorrow has in store for us!

Srinagar starts off with a bang! We sleep with dreams of crumpled cars and the smell of burnt metal – aka Die Hard! Later!

DAY 7

The dreams about warmth make me get up fresh and buzzing the next morning! Yay! We’re going to have some more fun in the sun

We learn from our mistakes from Day 6 and wake up just 30 minutes before our scheduled departure time of 0700 hours! We’re ready by 7 nonetheless outside Paul’s Guest House – THE BEST PLACE TO STAY IN LEH ON A BUDGET TRIP!

We still end up waiting for an hour! So much for learning from our mistakes! Finally we leave for Diskit, Hunder and the Valley in general.  The journey down wasn’t too eventful but for the fact that we were subjected to sad Hindi songs remixed by some crazy Tibetans by Nazir, our driver. Mummy kept persuading me – “Offer some food to the driver too. And talk in Hindi. So the Driver doesn’t feel left out!” DUHHHHHH UHHHH!

Oh yea, we come to Khardung La – The Highest Motorable pass in the world at 18380 feet! Oh and this time, we carry our brains along and wear our thermals! But it was the most amazing experience! We actually encountered REAL SNOWFALL! For the very first time in our lives! And imagine – you have cellular service at 18000 feet! I called up home to tell them about it.

Oh n yea, rum n coke feels reallllllly good up there! You dont get drunk. You get HAPPY

We went to Panamik Hot Springs on our first day. This was an overnight trip. The springs sucked. Just a shitty bathroom with a tap spouting yellow smelly hot water which supposedly had healing properties. None of us took a chance. Neither should anyone going there. Waste of time and money.

After the initial disappointment, Nazir takes us to the most distant corner of Leh (if thats even possible) to this shady hotel/guesthouse. We had no option but to shell out what that guy was quoting us. Mummy Daddy wanted an extra room. Ahem! I see the logic but financially it was ruinous. Further disappointment. So we decided on two rooms. To appease Mum Dad, they got one room to themselves. So poor Swati was shunted with us again!

Oh yea! We even went to a nondescript monastery on our way. There was the most creepiest looking monk EVER!

DAY 8

We had Camel Riding and Diskit Monastery on our itinerary. After the previous day, it didn’t look too promising. The Camel Ride in itself wasn’t exhilarating or anything, but rum and Snoop Dogg and his ilk made for interesting conversations and some situational comedy! Snoop Dogg was Swati’s ride btw. He liked my jeans – i dunno why. Maybe coz they were Banana Republic?? Bad joke!!

So our spirits were up a little bit. Pun intended. Then the monastery. Oops – i just realized we were a tad inebriated when we went to the monastery?? Correct me guys if im mixing things up here.

But Diskit was by far the best place we saw in the whole of Ladakh – Khardung La apart. We witnessed an ongoing prayer session with young monks of 9/10 years participating. A lot happened and very little can be put into words. Calming and Peaceful are the two words which come to mind. But like is the case with most beautiful places- words never do them justice.

So yea, that done, we got a lil high again and Swati’s already made me notorious for my dance moves on her blog so i’l smooth over those parts. So we get back to Leh. Tomorrow morning, the 5 of us part ways. These guys have a bus to Manali at the most unearthly hour of 2 am! N we had to drop Swati to the bus stand….coz obviously she couldn’t ruin mum dad’s last nite together as couple

So we did. So it ended. Sad we were – but only the next day when sleep left us. We stuck around in Leh for the day. Booked a car to Srinagar for the next evening. Again we were travelling with unknown people! This time 4 of them + the driver and his wife – that we didn’t bargain for. Anyways, that i’ll leave for the next entry.

Nite!

So i was still suffering from Mild AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), thanks to Sakti Village. But today was supposed to be our first proper Leh outing. So we head out to Pangong Lake with a motley group of people.

Ateeq & Somita – Couple. Journalists. I nicknamed them Mummy & Daddy. At some point of time, Somita told me to “Wash my hands!”. I was so taken aback by that rebuke because it had been a while since i heard that. I think the last time was in 5th grade after lunch?? Anyways, hence the nickname Mummy. Ateeq automatically becomes daddy.

Swati – Filmmaker. Ex-journalist. Single. Stuck with a couple. Wonder what made her say yes to the trip with a couple!? Sweet girl. We guys instantly hit it off. So she was no longer sidelined.

Nikhil and Me – Jobless. Yet. Confused. Paupers. Oh Punctual toom, unlike our companions! Fun nonetheless.

Thanks to the additional number of travellers, we reduce costs and we’re smiling after 4 days of contorted faces of disgust and pain alternately.

So we’re made to wait almost an hour for the car to come pick us up because of our punctuality and the lack of it from the others! But the journey starts. We realize we’re all from the same city. So we start talking. Swati hates Lonely Planet. Ateeq swears by it. IT saved our lives!

We cross Chang La – the 3rd highest motorable road in the world. Nikhil and I are wearing shorts. Brilliant dumbf*&$ks. Everything’s freezing – inside and outside. I’m still suffering from AMS. After 4 days of avoiding any medication, i finally take the Diamox offered by Swati. On an empty stomach. Another brilliant decision. Im drugged all the way.

We finally reach Pangong Lake. Its close to the Indo-China border. Beautiful Lake. Or maybe it was just the drugs that i was seeing the lake in 6 different hues. On the contrary, maybe it did have 6 different hues. We walk around, enjoy the weather (finally some sun and some much much needed warmth). I finally crash on the shore – the drugs and the warmth seep into me and im feeling much better.

Lunch time was Maggi and Tea. Everything tastes like heaven there – i wonder why? After dawdling about for a while, we head back to Leh. Happy with the company, we decide that we should do the next trip together too. We save some money again that way!

Oh yea, Chang La offers free tea to all passers-by! Courtesy of Chang La Baba! Of course, it’s only till 2 pm. If you want tea/coffee after that, you need to have good looking women with you who are willing to sweet talk the army men there! We got coffee at around 4! You know how eh??

Anyways, we’re back in Leh city. I think im running a little fever so i decide to take a Crocin and get some sleep. Nikhil heads out into the city with the others for some window shopping. I get up feeling loads better around dinner time. So we go to this Tibetan joint with the creepiest looking lady. She was sweet, but i just felt uneasy around her. We had Ginger-Lemon-Honey Tea, which was really good. I’m not sure if i’d have it back in Bombay though. We also had Veg Momos and Spring Rolls. Nice.

After chilling out for a while, we go to bed. Tomorrow, we go down to Nubra Valley. I like the word ‘down’ and ‘valley’ now. It signifies heat and warmth and OXYGEN for god’s sake! So with that thought, i sink into a dreamy sleep – WARM!

We get up on Day 5 to know that the Army guy who’s going to be taking us around Leh cant make it to the Cantonment coz he’s got stuck at the Indo-China border. Sounds all patriotic and important, but we felt like socking the guy.

Anyways, us being us, we decided to head out on our own. It would be a lot of money to spend as opposed to the free arrangements with the army, but we’d had enough. N frankly, we needed lighter bowels.

Being 15/20 kilometers from the city, we needed a ride to get down to the city. So we hitch a ride with ‘Adim’ – army parley for Admin Official or something to that effect. We realized this after we saw the badge on the ‘Adim’ guy which read V. Singh or something and we thought his name was ‘Adam’. Duh.

We get to the city. We dont know shit about it. We’re ill informed by the army guy that a room in the city will set us back by atleast 2K a day! Stomachs dropping…..not too far down though, for fear of leaks.

We decide to take our chances. Close to the bus stand, we see something close to a nameplate on the first floor of a spookhouse called Rewa Guesthouse. The room was BRILLIANT in every sense of the word! N they had a Western Toilet with TAPS! The only hitch was we had to share it with inhabitants of 20 other rooms! But we just HAD to relieve ourselves.

After doing our thing, we decide to plan. Um, yea tough word for us. But we have a go at it anyways. The hotel owner/long term resident advise us. Throw figures like 10/20K at us. For a trip to one spot. We’re F*&%#ed. That was our budget for all the 21 days.

We put all the bad advise at the back of our minds and head out to see the city. Our first touristy outing since arriving 2 days ago. Now, Leh City has this most amazing thing called ‘ share-a-trip’….or actually im deciding to call it that. Sounds more interesting that way. All travel agencies have these posters plastered over their walls informing tourists of vacancies on certain trips that other people are undertaking and want extra people to join. That way u cut costs and of course meet new people! A double whammy!

So, we book ourselves for Pangong Lake for Day 6 of our trip with our wallets lighter, but with hope nonetheless.

We grab some food and some much needed sleep. We’re light as air too. You know why.

We landed at Leh airport at about 0630. Leh airport is arguably the most scenic and astounding airport u can find anywhere on the planet. We managed to video the whole landing trip even with the PA urging everyone to switch off their electronic gadgets. But since when have we played by the rules?

Anyways, we get down and meet the dumbest army driver ever. Dont remember his name. Assamese guy i think. Our entire trip was i think jinxed….mmm…no thats too harsh a word…..’adventurous’ seems appropriate.

The driver also had to pick up some other guy so he was holding up 2 placards. He saw 2 of us so he ‘thought’ we were the two. We were too dizzy with the beauty and also the late night parties in Delhi to bother bout the other guy. Halfway to our destination, we, or rather I, with my utter stupidity broach the subject. After a lot of confused exchanges, he knows he’s in for some army style asskicking.

We reach the place. It’s a shithole. Musty rooms. We dint mind that. We weren’t expecting anymore. So we’re happy. Until the loo happens. We go in to find a squat toilet. Still ok. But no taps, no flush. Now it sucks.

Nikhil has ‘tap-o-phobia’ and i can’t squat. I think that pretty much sums it up. So for 2 days while we’re acclimatizing, we can’t go. We eat a lot, but it stays eaten. Yuck….i know.

Expecting that all this was a prelude to better things, we sleep on day 4, looking forward to a better day. What do we know what’s in store tomorrow! Heavy stomachs and heavier asses. Goodnite.

Anyways, a little background on the Travel Diaries. I am on a 3 week tour of Leh-Ladakh and Kashmir with a friend of mine Nikhil. Two best friends, on a potential life changing journey and possibly the last we’ll have together for a few years to come.

Ok so on with Day 1.

Crazy is not the word! We were supposed to take a train from Bombay to Delhi. But we wake up in the morning with a whole lot of adrenaline and enthusiasm. I call to confirm if our train is on schedule. The bomb drops then – It’s been CANCELLED! Bollocks! All our plans come to a grinding halt.

But of course we couldnt let 2 months of meticulous planning just vaporize into thin air. So although it cost us a whole lot of money, we decided to get a flight to Delhi. N so we did. That was that then. Shitload of money spend without the journey having started. Ominous signs?

In Delhi, another adventure awaited us – although it was way pleasant than we expected it to be! I decided to call a future classmate – Sumit – who lives in Delhi and will be starting his MBA with me this Fall. Nikhil and his folks had their apprehensions, and so did I. So did Sumit as he later stated, after a few drinks. But as soon as the 3 of us met, we seemed to know each other for ages!

We bonded like long lost friends over a few(?) (any comments Sumit/Nikhil!!) drinks and it never seemed like we actually met each other for the first time. Sumit is one of the coolest/nicest guys we ever met! He paid for the drinks/food and let us crash at his place! Im writing this from his home btw.

You rock Bro!

We have a flight to Leh tomorrow morning at 5. Sumit/Nikhil plan to have a few drinks before we take the flight. Im not too sure if that would be a good idea but what the hell.

The trip started with us deciding to devolve from conventional wisdom and dare i say, its served us well!

I dunno when il be able to make another post but il try! Until then, from the Bunty & Buntun land of Delhi - Peace!

Nathaniel, the magical whiz-kid, now has a new master, Ms. Jessica Whitwell, a far more accomplished magician than his previous master. Nathaniel’s magical curiosity and his voracious appetite for knowledge are satisfied with his new master. But now, Nathaniel faces jealous co-workers and doubtful magicians who are hell bent on bringing him to his knees.

This time around, Nathaniel faces a far graver threat than Simon Lovelace from the first installment of The Bartimaeus Trilogy. The city of London is in grave danger from a powerful magical creature, Golem, controlled by a mysterious entity. Nathaniel’s job is to destroy the monster and his master. This gives the story enough impetus to take the reader on a whirlwind ride from the city of Prague whose very walls are steeped in ancient magic to the city of London, in turmoil and losing its hold over the Empire.

Unfortunately, the role of Bartimaeus, the djinni who managed to draw out the most laughs with his dry, witty humor has a relatively subdued role in this story. The novel, instead introduces an interesting character, Kitty, a strong headed revolutionary who leads the Resistance against the government. Nathaniel and Kitty, along with the Resistance play a game of cat and mouse for most part of the novel until the fates of both of them, along with Bartimaeus, culminate at the climax. All this while, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus, whose relationships are curt; to say the least, unwittingly start developing a bond which provides the basis for the very unexpected and rousing conclusion of this novel.

Stroud does a masterful job of gradually illustrating the changes in the innocent Nathaniel with just childish revenge on his mind to becoming a part of just another corruptible group of politicians indulging in power games. Your feelings for Nathaniel range from pity to disgust to sympathy as the story unfolds.

The book is a thrilling extension of The Bartimaeus Trilogy. It keeps the reader enthralled and leaves him hanging off his couch desperately wanting to know the fates of its three very lively characters. The Golem’s Eye is an apt successor to the best selling first edition, The Amulet of Samarkand. Every reader will definitely want to lay his hands on the third and final installment of the trilogy, Ptolemy’s Gate after having read The Golem’s Eye.