Ghumakkar's Diary

Nothing to fear about, I don't show any symptoms.  One call, rush to meet someone, a Cab ride --- called it a day! Two days later, the Cab Aggregator called me with a news - Driver has turned positive.  That one clicked the panic button, aah for my wife at least. We as a family are sort of locked down in this place we call our home with a 1yr old kid and my mother in law. Except for me, none of my family members have been out of the main door more than twice since mid-March. My wife literally tried everything to cut off from the social-mingling, new mom's paranoia, and yesterday the one thing that she can utter was "irony". Anyways, I have done what's needed - informed authorities (advised to stay home, quarantined alone), locked myself in a room and living a life of King -- wife and my mother-in-law delivering all that is needed timely. But, let me tell -- it's no fun. Most of the time I have no one to talk to, no one to argue on a nonsense news running on TV...

Kalavnatin in clouds, as we looked at it from Prabalgad I have been to Prabalgad twice, but for some reasons (reasonable/non-reasonable!) I couldn't write about it.  So, going easy way - I am re-posting a very comprehensive post written by my fellow trekker Kranti . Also, I will update the post soon with trekking route for Prabalgad, which you can use with your Navigation app to "easily" navigate to the Top, else "getting lost and finding the way" is still the Best Way :) Prabalgad - A beautiful Day Trek in Monsoons :  “Pahad chadne ki kya Jarurat hai?” – Mom “Tumhara beta pagal ho gaya hai” – Dad “Mama/Uncle you are damn cool, man” -  Nephews/Nieces “Gaadi se jaana, bike se nahi” – Loved ones “Pahad chadna mere liye sirf ek trek nahi balki ek nasha hai, meditation hai” – Me #filmy Okay, so with all of these above, finally started our much-awaited Trek to Prabalgad/Kalavantin. We have been planning for this trek for more than a week n...

Known as the Knowledge city of Assam – Jorhat is a small town in the NorthEast India with a unique distinction of sheltering India’s only population of Apes – the Gibbons . Hoolangapar Gibbon Sanctuary spreads across an area of about 21 km sq and is named after Hoolock Gibbons . Not just the Gibbons, it also houses 7 species of monkeys out of total 15 species that are found in India, varied species of birds, spiders and squirrels. A morning walk inside the Hoolangapar Gibbon Sanctuary Gibbons are the Apes and are differentiated on smaller size, lower sexual dimorphism, no nesting habits from the Greater Apes. Hoolock gibbons are the second largest of the gibbons and spread from NE India to Myanmar, with smaller populations in Bangladesh and China. Hoolangapar Sanctuary provides an unparalleled opportunity to meet these gibbons in their natural habitat. Also, the sanctuary has India’s only population of nocturnal primates – the Slow Loris . With distinctive large eyes, every...

Julley! Second word that best describes me is procrastinator. You don’t need to ask me why, check the last date I posted something or in fact the fact that I am posting The Year it was on the fourth day of New Year tells it well. And, now when you ask what’s the first word, I promise I will write on it someday soon ( God promise it is :p) This year had really something I wish to have every year – lots and lots of travelling. It all started with solo Kutch ride and ended with a drive to Murudeshwar, I changed job – travelling played a big role in that too, I met someone and realized that there still can be a life (met momentarily, realized - well, perhaps on real terms), I almost touched all the corners of the country – chronologically Kutch in West, Leh (finally) in North, Imphal (yippy) in East and Murudeshwar in South. Only thing that I regret about the year was less of riding, though travelling did compensate it to a good extent. Also, that I couldn’t write, not that I ...

A good mood can always bring someone back to writing. After a tiring training (working) week at Oxford which happened to overlap with a changing mind, I finally had a day to devour the City of Palaces- London! I spent the hoping on hoping down the London underground/tube trains, visiting and capturing places in HDR and whenever had some idle – thinking about the coming week – what to do what not to do! Anyways, this blog is not about how to travel London, but to share the HDR London I saw… The London Eye I have always wanted to visit this modern wonder, and believe me it was as wonderful as it could have been to a solo traveler... The London Eye Modern Wonder in HDR Few moments at Big Ben and a walk on Westminster Bridge was another wonderful experience for me...

Finally, planned - postponed - planned - unplanned...series of Yes and No...year after years...finally a plan that took a shape to be executed...and finally it collapsed! Fourth year of Planning a Ride to the Top of the World( ly senses ), and it Flopped when the guy who planned it - booked a bed in Hospital for some unknown disease that turned out to 'fresh water worms' but killed his plan! When it starts to feel like cliche (like my life), I get to the point...I am leaving for Leh tomorrow morning! This time - NO PLANS! All I have got is a ticket to Jammu and a return ticket from Leh. What I will miss most on my ride is ofcourse you don't know and I won't tell, but Achtung!  will for sure be missed a lot; but it's his fault - he didn't start the day he was scheduled to be packed and leave for Jammu; perhaps he didn't want to start it alone! Epic ride it is! (Btw, to those who don't know, Achtung!  is my Bull - an RE TBTS 350. What next? I don...