November London 09

A city is nothing more than a congregation of scampering survivors. This holds for any city, anywhere. But something about the ten days I spent in London changed this scrawl in my head like November rain on a dirty car. Travel more and unlearn it all, I say. What's yer money for?

Do the London walks, museums, Stonehenge, road trips, London Eye, musicals, spend a day at Covent Garden, whatever. Walk it, eat off the streets and soak it up through the well preserved heritage and environment. It's worth the pound.
I managed to do four of the London Walks- Jack the ripper, The Beatles, Stonehenge and Hamstead Heath. The 400 mile road trip from Reading to Glasgow was breathtaking. The Scottish landscape is unbelievably beautiful and pristine! It got surreal on the way to Stranraer- a port town from where I took a ferry to Belfast. Click here to see a bit of it. Flew back to London.

On the way to Stranraer- Whit's yer hurry?

Soho, London

Londoners love their bicycles. African trees and roots exhibition at Trafalgar Square-

Big Ben and little girl-

Street musicians.. they are so good!

Birdie pose.

November London 09

A city is nothing more than a congregation of scampering survivors. This holds for any city, anywhere. But something about the ten days I spent in London changed this scrawl in my head like November rain on a dirty car. Travel more and unlearn it all, I say. What's yer money for?

Do the London walks, museums, Stonehenge, road trips, London Eye, musicals, spend a day at Covent Garden, whatever. Walk it, eat off the streets and soak it up through the well preserved heritage and environment. It's worth the pound.
I managed to do four of the London Walks- Jack the ripper, The Beatles, Stonehenge and Hamstead Heath. The 400 mile road trip from Reading to Glasgow was breathtaking. The Scottish landscape is unbelievably beautiful and pristine! It got surreal on the way to Stranraer- a port town from where I took a ferry to Belfast. Click here to see a bit of it. Flew back to London.

On the way to Stranraer- Whit's yer hurry?

Soho, London

Londoners love their bicycles. African trees and roots exhibition at Trafalgar Square-

Big Ben and little girl-

Street musicians.. they are so good!

Birdie pose.

Rishikesh circa 2009

Earthworms wiggled on the gleaming beach as waves pushed it away from itself, and devouring some more sand on its way back. Algae glistened on rocks as insects leached on lush green sunlight-topped breakfast. The river roared endlessly, like an exodus. Butterflies taunted lizards and flitted about playfully. I felt blessed here. Once in a while, the peace would be ruined by far-removed, holidaying rafters cheering and drifting along the Ganges. My sketches can barely imitate this natural extravaganza I was in. I could see it all in my head- this paradise is short lived. Will this river keep flowing like this through my lifetime? The foam splashed violently on the waves ahead of it, like a mob in a narrow lane, screaming, helplessly pulling away from the abode and disappearing into the other end of the page.

On our way back, we saw more signs of d-day; drilling machines, land slides and earth movers. I felt sad on a holiday. If Gaia retaliates, it will be like a giant mirror in response to our exploits.

Rishikesh circa 2009

Earthworms wiggled on the gleaming beach as waves pushed it away from itself, and devouring some more sand on its way back. Algae glistened on rocks as insects leached on lush green sunlight-topped breakfast. The river roared endlessly, like an exodus. Butterflies taunted lizards and flitted about playfully. I felt blessed here. Once in a while, the peace would be ruined by far-removed, holidaying rafters cheering and drifting along the Ganges. My sketches can barely imitate this natural extravaganza I was in. I could see it all in my head- this paradise is short lived. Will this river keep flowing like this through my lifetime? The foam splashed violently on the waves ahead of it, like a mob in a narrow lane, screaming, helplessly pulling away from the abode and disappearing into the other end of the page.

On our way back, we saw more signs of d-day; drilling machines, land slides and earth movers. I felt sad on a holiday. If Gaia retaliates, it will be like a giant mirror in response to our exploits.

Save a tree. Go digi.

Alrighty, its 3:40 am and serious angst time. I'm getting this out of my system right now so I can go back and sleep. This time, its about how we publish our information and that self-destructive, unsustainable devouring needs to be curbed.
We have to stop hacking down trees to print daily publications. All publications, newspapers, reports, magazines need to be digitized, uploaded and viewed on portable e-reader devices like Kindle, iphones, phones, televisions or whatever portable technology can do this in the near future- maybe a phone that can project on a portable 2'x1' roll-up screen. This way you can carry your e-paper with you. Dailies like newspapers can be subscribed for through your cable tv. So you turn on your tv, select your morning paper on a menu, and read it on your tv. If you want to see a clip, run movie clips or sound files, or just get on websites of news companies.

Trees are precious life-support organisms. They will be protected like God-sent extinct animals soon. And we brutally bring them down so we can print supplements that carry banal, pointless, stupid, inane, articles on mood swings of asinine, pig-headed, dumbf**k, bane-on-the-earth celebrities and then? Toss that pulp away in a few minutes. This is a sinful, criminal waste. Imagine if I wrote about my angst and had that printed on your hide, had it read by a few people and then, sold it for 5 bucks a kilo. Felt something? On your skin? Am I getting under your skin now, huh?

I don't have kids. But if you do, and if you want your children to inherit a beautiful world tomorrow, stop taking initiatives to print. Really, ask yourself. When was the last time you actually read that printed article or report YOU wrote? And was it really worth killing a tree for? Kid me not. Start reducing today. Go digital so you don't have to explain with gestures to your children what a tree used to be.

Save a tree. Go digi.

Alrighty, its 3:40 am and serious angst time. I'm getting this out of my system right now so I can go back and sleep. This time, its about how we publish our information and that self-destructive, unsustainable devouring needs to be curbed.
We have to stop hacking down trees to print daily publications. All publications, newspapers, reports, magazines need to be digitized, uploaded and viewed on portable e-reader devices like Kindle, iphones, phones, televisions or whatever portable technology can do this in the near future- maybe a phone that can project on a portable 2'x1' roll-up screen. This way you can carry your e-paper with you. Dailies like newspapers can be subscribed for through your cable tv. So you turn on your tv, select your morning paper on a menu, and read it on your tv. If you want to see a clip, run movie clips or sound files, or just get on websites of news companies.

Trees are precious life-support organisms. They will be protected like God-sent extinct animals soon. And we brutally bring them down so we can print supplements that carry banal, pointless, stupid, inane, articles on mood swings of asinine, pig-headed, dumbf**k, bane-on-the-earth celebrities and then? Toss that pulp away in a few minutes. This is a sinful, criminal waste. Imagine if I wrote about my angst and had that printed on your hide, had it read by a few people and then, sold it for 5 bucks a kilo. Felt something? On your skin? Am I getting under your skin now, huh?

I don't have kids. But if you do, and if you want your children to inherit a beautiful world tomorrow, stop taking initiatives to print. Really, ask yourself. When was the last time you actually read that printed article or report YOU wrote? And was it really worth killing a tree for? Kid me not. Start reducing today. Go digital so you don't have to explain with gestures to your children what a tree used to be.

Devolve

The green of the trees was only becoming eerier and more dense as we struggled with every step on the glazed rocks.

"I'm not going with you," the hairless monkey snapped. It's getting colder and I've had enough of this so-called trek." He mumbled angrily. His speech was only getting more unintelligible through the day, and sometimes he would screech in disagreement. I turned with a betrayed look on my face. Moving my head was becoming a pain now since the horns on my head were growing faster. I could now feel the weight of it every time I turned, so I would need to turn more gently now, else I would gravely injure someone walking around me. His colleague, now almost half wolf, agreed with him with a low growl and glared at me with a stare that surely did not mean well. Did he just grow another set of fangs there? I swallowed in fright and looked away as a shiver ran down my spine. I stretched my neck upwards towards the trees. The sun was nowhere in sight, it was cloudy and getting colder. All I heard was the stream nearby and the cribbing of the circus that we have morphed into. "Look, I saw a light in that hill ahead. It has to be someone's house, and not another shed. Can we try for that, before we are totally unable to communicate like humans?" The monkey sulked even more now. I could barely tell who he was in the original human form.

Twenty days back, our group of four had wandered off into a banned area called White Hill, which was cordoned off by a pharmaceutical company, for testing. How it got clearance in the mountains was news for a long time in the media. The public relations wing of this drug company later came out with a press release claiming to be an environment benefit crusader with a green vision, and got itself a stay order. We joked about the 'greens' it had to have that work for them. The factory was nested in the mountains beyond the national park where we were supposed to stay in.

The big metal and wood signs behind the barbed wires were clearly screaming danger, but could not hold back the wannabe, adventure-seeking Rambos we were. What started as a dare had now turned into a living nightmare for us. Much to our horror, we have transformed physically in the last ten days. I could only keep track of time with the scratches on my new grown hoof- a self-inflicted scar for every sunrise to keep track of the days. We had lost all our phones and gadgets, mainly because we were unable to hold them anymore, leave alone punch numbers into those keys which were too tiny for our hoofs and claws. The fruits and streams kept us alive, and transforming more. The natural conditions only seemed natural, but were not. Everything around us was laced with something that spiked more hormonal changes within us. In the maze like, never-ending forest, each of us was going through the growth stages that an animal would go through, and each of us was turning into a different animal. But the transformation seemed to have pickup up faster in the last 4 days. Our speech was turning incoherent and incomprehensible. We were responding to body language and smells more than the words we spoke. Our spines bent more towards the earth. We had been walking the mountains for nearly a week now, in one direction- east, and looking for any signs of hope.

------------------------------*********------------------------------

We were all completely human then. For a change, All four of us planned out our work related schedules and other priorities so we would go on a trek- maybe the last one. We were all getting older and the thought of walking with backpacks only exhausted us. It was time then, to do one last walk into the wild. City life has its dangers and wild sides too, but we were urban animals anyway. We wanted to climb a mountain, scramble up trees and rocks and be with the wilderness and the natural.
Little did we know, that it would be all we could be capable of.

Devolve

The green of the trees was only becoming eerier and more dense as we struggled with every step on the glazed rocks.

"I'm not going with you," the hairless monkey snapped. It's getting colder and I've had enough of this so-called trek." He mumbled angrily. His speech was only getting more unintelligible through the day, and sometimes he would screech in disagreement. I turned with a betrayed look on my face. Moving my head was becoming a pain now since the horns on my head were growing faster. I could now feel the weight of it every time I turned, so I would need to turn more gently now, else I would gravely injure someone walking around me. His colleague, now almost half wolf, agreed with him with a low growl and glared at me with a stare that surely did not mean well. Did he just grow another set of fangs there? I swallowed in fright and looked away as a shiver ran down my spine. I stretched my neck upwards towards the trees. The sun was nowhere in sight, it was cloudy and getting colder. All I heard was the stream nearby and the cribbing of the circus that we have morphed into. "Look, I saw a light in that hill ahead. It has to be someone's house, and not another shed. Can we try for that, before we are totally unable to communicate like humans?" The monkey sulked even more now. I could barely tell who he was in the original human form.

Twenty days back, our group of four had wandered off into a banned area called White Hill, which was cordoned off by a pharmaceutical company, for testing. How it got clearance in the mountains was news for a long time in the media. The public relations wing of this drug company later came out with a press release claiming to be an environment benefit crusader with a green vision, and got itself a stay order. We joked about the 'greens' it had to have that work for them. The factory was nested in the mountains beyond the national park where we were supposed to stay in.

The big metal and wood signs behind the barbed wires were clearly screaming danger, but could not hold back the wannabe, adventure-seeking Rambos we were. What started as a dare had now turned into a living nightmare for us. Much to our horror, we have transformed physically in the last ten days. I could only keep track of time with the scratches on my new grown hoof- a self-inflicted scar for every sunrise to keep track of the days. We had lost all our phones and gadgets, mainly because we were unable to hold them anymore, leave alone punch numbers into those keys which were too tiny for our hoofs and claws. The fruits and streams kept us alive, and transforming more. The natural conditions only seemed natural, but were not. Everything around us was laced with something that spiked more hormonal changes within us. In the maze like, never-ending forest, each of us was going through the growth stages that an animal would go through, and each of us was turning into a different animal. But the transformation seemed to have pickup up faster in the last 4 days. Our speech was turning incoherent and incomprehensible. We were responding to body language and smells more than the words we spoke. Our spines bent more towards the earth. We had been walking the mountains for nearly a week now, in one direction- east, and looking for any signs of hope.

------------------------------*********------------------------------

We were all completely human then. For a change, All four of us planned out our work related schedules and other priorities so we would go on a trek- maybe the last one. We were all getting older and the thought of walking with backpacks only exhausted us. It was time then, to do one last walk into the wild. City life has its dangers and wild sides too, but we were urban animals anyway. We wanted to climb a mountain, scramble up trees and rocks and be with the wilderness and the natural.
Little did we know, that it would be all we could be capable of.

10 things to do to your phone while its ringing

...also 10 interesting ways to get rid of your phone.

Here are a few interesting things you can do with your phone when it rings- just to see what happens.

1. Keep ready a slurry mixture of salami, sausages and butter chicken. The moment the phone rings, toss it in the mixture, swirl it all, and gently place the bowl in the middle of a pack of mongrels sleeping nearby.

2. Get a tennis racquet. Walk up to the centre of an open ground, or a beach and face the ocean, or the edge of a cliff edge. Keep the phone in full volume. Select a very irritating ring tone for a very annoying person. Call that person and ask to be called back (create the situation will you). The moment the phone rings, toss that phone in the air, give it the hardest, pumpiest, thumpiest, full blown, socking whack with your tennis racquet... and don't miss. Missing will really piss you off.

3. Go to the top-most floor of a very tall building. Call someone or, if the phone rings, answer it and tell the person to record the conversation. Dead drop the phone to the earth. Ask the person to mail you the sound file. Play it in an endless loop, or as a separator to all the songs in your playlist. Whooooooo... BangaCrashaKlackityCrunch... Fortune, fame, mirror vain, gone insane, but the memory remains...

4. Give the phone to a 2-year-old for the day. It should be the only thing to play with.

5. Drop your phone on a busy road. Park close by. See how long it lasts.

6. Get a bonnfire ready and roaring. Toss the phone in a mug of petrol. Toss all contents of the mug in the fire. Whoosshhhhhh... Record and play as given in point 3.

7. Walk up to a road-paving bulldozer. Ask the driver if you can have your phone permanently embedded in the road. If they are life-loving, free spirited people, you can have your phone rest in peace in the road (and the road becomes my bride...)

8. Tie the phone to fireworks- maybe a big rocket. Start the video recording on the camera. Light 'em up. If you can find your phone, see if you can salvage the video from the memory card. Now that I figure should be one hell of a sight.

9. Go to a remote hilly area, away from all this crap. Give the phone away to a local villager on one condition based on sheer trust- he clicks pictures every day of the natural surroundings and emails it to you and the end of the month.

10. One more... I need one more...

10 things to do to your phone while its ringing

...also 10 interesting ways to get rid of your phone.

Here are a few interesting things you can do with your phone when it rings- just to see what happens.

1. Keep ready a slurry mixture of salami, sausages and butter chicken. The moment the phone rings, toss it in the mixture, swirl it all, and gently place the bowl in the middle of a pack of mongrels sleeping nearby.

2. Get a tennis racquet. Walk up to the centre of an open ground, or a beach and face the ocean, or the edge of a cliff edge. Keep the phone in full volume. Select a very irritating ring tone for a very annoying person. Call that person and ask to be called back (create the situation will you). The moment the phone rings, toss that phone in the air, give it the hardest, pumpiest, thumpiest, full blown, socking whack with your tennis racquet... and don't miss. Missing will really piss you off.

3. Go to the top-most floor of a very tall building. Call someone or, if the phone rings, answer it and tell the person to record the conversation. Dead drop the phone to the earth. Ask the person to mail you the sound file. Play it in an endless loop, or as a separator to all the songs in your playlist. Whooooooo... BangaCrashaKlackityCrunch... Fortune, fame, mirror vain, gone insane, but the memory remains...

4. Give the phone to a 2-year-old for the day. It should be the only thing to play with.

5. Drop your phone on a busy road. Park close by. See how long it lasts.

6. Get a bonnfire ready and roaring. Toss the phone in a mug of petrol. Toss all contents of the mug in the fire. Whoosshhhhhh... Record and play as given in point 3.

7. Walk up to a road-paving bulldozer. Ask the driver if you can have your phone permanently embedded in the road. If they are life-loving, free spirited people, you can have your phone rest in peace in the road (and the road becomes my bride...)

8. Tie the phone to fireworks- maybe a big rocket. Start the video recording on the camera. Light 'em up. If you can find your phone, see if you can salvage the video from the memory card. Now that I figure should be one hell of a sight.

9. Go to a remote hilly area, away from all this crap. Give the phone away to a local villager on one condition based on sheer trust- he clicks pictures every day of the natural surroundings and emails it to you and the end of the month.

10. One more... I need one more...

Sunday Mumbai, awesome weather!

Spanking new sealink. Managed to check it out early Sunday morning as we landed in.
and of course, a panorama dedicated to a great city-

Worli mutt, empty streets.

Empty trains.
Empty stations.

Sunday Mumbai, awesome weather!

Spanking new sealink. Managed to check it out early Sunday morning as we landed in.
and of course, a panorama dedicated to a great city-

Worli mutt, empty streets.

Empty trains.
Empty stations.

Birds eye view

The hot arid desert shone like gold in the burning afternoon. The heavily chromed, metallic vultures swooped down on the bubbling tarmac for a spontaneous conference. Their claws stuck to the tar like spoons in hot caramel. Although they despised each other, they were similar. So any hint amongst themselves for a meeting would be taken seriously. And they would gather once in a while.
"Think this party will last longer?" asked Sukuzi, hoping for approval and an aye from his LED-blinking-eyed buddies. "It's just a matter of time, and the last tree will be gone. Then it's for us to take a call on what stays and not." said Donha optimistically, and happy with his recent offering in the desert-named after a musical muse for the humans. Fita did not respond. He sulked and always looked miserable. Dhunyai, the side kick and survivor from the last onslaught from Sukuzi, straightened his neck out to spot something afar. He flapped his wings in glee as another tree vaporised in the horizon. "It's a dead give away," he cackled, "how humans love us and watch us eat them from the inside. Pity MG is not around to see this. After decades of squabbling with Earth lovers, he's given in. Now the party is all ours, I figure."
"But we need to keep it down, least they wake up." They looked upward to see where that came from. It was Yotoya, the largest of the birds, as he thundered in from the sky. His incredibly large feet burrowed into the melting road till its gigantic talons sunk into the black goo as he weighed in to relax. Towering over the others, his shadow intimidated the other wannabees. "Release a hybrid now and then, till the earth's liquid lasts. Then we'll go all electric." He preached as though to benefit the rest, only to hatch his own plans behind his diabolical beak. "But be wary of a local bird about to lay a nestful."
"What local pigeon encroaches upon our wingspan here?" Asked Dorf, another big, arrogant and aging vulture. He hated Yotoya, but kept his tone down in his presence. Yotoya spoke. "It may not be a big threat now, but it is getting some serious attention. And you know how precious attention is, right?" He turned to Fita with that, wanting to taunt him more with subtle undertones. Fita hated that look. "This is a growing playground. It's big, and the humans do not seem to fight us with norms for Earth's sake. Everything goes. Keep the gold dust ready. They sell out easily."

Donha and Sukuzi hopped about unfazed by the conversation. They had their own schemes to hatch. Dhunyai scanned the ground for bits to nibble. Dorf and Yotoya faced opposite directions. Secretly, they all wondered about Taat, the local, and what its new feathers would look like.

Birds eye view

The hot arid desert shone like gold in the burning afternoon. The heavily chromed, metallic vultures swooped down on the bubbling tarmac for a spontaneous conference. Their claws stuck to the tar like spoons in hot caramel. Although they despised each other, they were similar. So any hint amongst themselves for a meeting would be taken seriously. And they would gather once in a while.
"Think this party will last longer?" asked Sukuzi, hoping for approval and an aye from his LED-blinking-eyed buddies. "It's just a matter of time, and the last tree will be gone. Then it's for us to take a call on what stays and not." said Donha optimistically, and happy with his recent offering in the desert-named after a musical muse for the humans. Fita did not respond. He sulked and always looked miserable. Dhunyai, the side kick and survivor from the last onslaught from Sukuzi, straightened his neck out to spot something afar. He flapped his wings in glee as another tree vaporised in the horizon. "It's a dead give away," he cackled, "how humans love us and watch us eat them from the inside. Pity MG is not around to see this. After decades of squabbling with Earth lovers, he's given in. Now the party is all ours, I figure."
"But we need to keep it down, least they wake up." They looked upward to see where that came from. It was Yotoya, the largest of the birds, as he thundered in from the sky. His incredibly large feet burrowed into the melting road till its gigantic talons sunk into the black goo as he weighed in to relax. Towering over the others, his shadow intimidated the other wannabees. "Release a hybrid now and then, till the earth's liquid lasts. Then we'll go all electric." He preached as though to benefit the rest, only to hatch his own plans behind his diabolical beak. "But be wary of a local bird about to lay a nestful."
"What local pigeon encroaches upon our wingspan here?" Asked Dorf, another big, arrogant and aging vulture. He hated Yotoya, but kept his tone down in his presence. Yotoya spoke. "It may not be a big threat now, but it is getting some serious attention. And you know how precious attention is, right?" He turned to Fita with that, wanting to taunt him more with subtle undertones. Fita hated that look. "This is a growing playground. It's big, and the humans do not seem to fight us with norms for Earth's sake. Everything goes. Keep the gold dust ready. They sell out easily."

Donha and Sukuzi hopped about unfazed by the conversation. They had their own schemes to hatch. Dhunyai scanned the ground for bits to nibble. Dorf and Yotoya faced opposite directions. Secretly, they all wondered about Taat, the local, and what its new feathers would look like.

Zoey Thea Kariyal

A new addition in our family!

Zoey Thea Kariyal

A new addition in our family!

Traveloged

I really cherish having had timeout to drive out of town. Clean mountain air, Drawing and taking pictures, curious kids peeking into your drawings, natural home cooked food with local families, their dogs walking with you alongside a river and through forests, hiring an old bike and exploring the place, the intense pleasure of writing about all this- are now luxuries. In fact this is the real luxury, not things anymore. One can always have stuff which will always be mass produced. Its timeout to places that will really matter now. And I have great friends I can do this with. As environment degradation chomps into natural heavens, these beautiful locations will become even more scarce. Archived here are some travelogs in the past-
http://archive.arjunkariyal.com/self/getthehellout/index.html
Sunderdhunga being the jewel of this crown-
http://archive.arjunkariyal.com/self/getthehellout/sunderdhunga.html

This is one of those moments when I am looking back. Ouch, this hurts.

Traveloged

I really cherish having had timeout to drive out of town. Clean mountain air, Drawing and taking pictures, curious kids peeking into your drawings, natural home cooked food with local families, their dogs walking with you alongside a river and through forests, hiring an old bike and exploring the place, the intense pleasure of writing about all this- are now luxuries. In fact this is the real luxury, not things anymore. One can always have stuff which will always be mass produced. Its timeout to places that will really matter now. And I have great friends I can do this with. As environment degradation chomps into natural heavens, these beautiful locations will become even more scarce. Archived here are some travelogs in the past-
http://archive.arjunkariyal.com/self/getthehellout/index.html
Sunderdhunga being the jewel of this crown-
http://archive.arjunkariyal.com/self/getthehellout/sunderdhunga.html

This is one of those moments when I am looking back. Ouch, this hurts.

Pushkar Panoramas

View of the street below from our room window from Baba hotel. The hotels here in Pushkar are basically people's homes converted to hotels. Of 29 panoramas, this is my first top down view!

View of Brahm ghat under construction from the Pushkar Palace side.

One comic coming up on this trip!

Kids in Pushkar- what a hug!

These kids saw me clicking around and wanted me to take their picture. As I aimed the cam at them, next was this instant pose- all arms and smiles!

Pushkar Panoramas

View of the street below from our room window from Baba hotel. The hotels here in Pushkar are basically people's homes converted to hotels. Of 29 panoramas, this is my first top down view!

View of Brahm ghat under construction from the Pushkar Palace side.

One comic coming up on this trip!

Kids in Pushkar- what a hug!

These kids saw me clicking around and wanted me to take their picture. As I aimed the cam at them, next was this instant pose- all arms and smiles!