K2S: Katraj To Sinhagad Trek

I have a passion for trekking. I’ve already visited quite a few forts around Pune—near Purandar, Velhe, and the Lonavala region. However, I had never done the trek popularly known as K2S, which stands for “Katraj to Sinhagad.” I had heard about it from a friend after moving to Pune, but this wish had remained unfulfilled for many years—until last Sunday, when I finally completed it.

The trek starts from one of 3–4 points near Hatti Dongar in Katraj Ghat. From there, you climb up and down around 15–16 hills, covering nearly 14 kilometres before reaching Sinhagad.

This trek typically takes 5–6 hours, and if the group is large, with frequent breaks, it can take even longer. That’s why organisers usually conduct it at night—especially in summer. In monsoon or winter, it can be done during the day. Since it’s a night trek, it is often scheduled around the full moon (or a day or two before/after it). In the week we went, the full moon fell midweek, so a few groups had organised treks on both weekends.

I regularly hike up Sinhagad from the Pune Darwaza side, like many Pune residents. But since this trek is longer and more challenging, I always wanted to try it at least once. I didn’t think much beyond that. However, during the trek, I learned that there are seasoned trekkers who do this regularly—even solo—and some have completed K2S 15–20 times. As we were starting, we even saw a couple finishing the trek in reverse (Sinhagad to Katraj), likely having started around 5 PM. Since the trail crosses many hills and paths, I strongly recommend that first-timers do it with an experienced group.

My friend Sagar and I registered with the “Sunday Hikers” group. A total of 58 of us completed the trek that night. The group’s founder, Anand Ankam, and several experienced trekkers from the Sunday Hikers team were there to guide us. Their planning was excellent.

Participants were divided according to the area into four batches and transported by tempo traveller buses to the starting point in Old Katraj Ghat. From there, to better manage the large group, they divided us into six smaller teams (green, blue, red, etc.). Each person was given a matching wristband, and every team had two experienced leaders—one leading and one at the back—with strict instructions that no one should overtake them. They also designated the overall front and rear persons for the entire group. To avoid confusion, one of the coordinators, Sanjay sir, personally counted each group before letting them proceed.

Sagar and I were in the red group. After assembling near Waghjai Temple, our trek began. Ramesh Anna led from the front, and our red team was the first group behind him. 

The route runs over hills between the old and new Katraj tunnels, so you often see one or both highways below. The vehicle lights looked beautiful from afar, and areas like Katraj, Ambegaon, Narhe, Kondhanpur, and others were lit up in the night. Above us was the full moon (or near full). Altogether, it was a unique visual treat, unlike typical day treks.

Luckily, the weather was not too cloudy, so it wasn’t too humid. We enjoyed cool night breezes throughout, making the summer night trek totally worthwhile and less tiring.

Once the trek starts, there are no shops or water sources along the way. Unlike Sinhagad, where refreshments are available, here you must carry everything. We were instructed to carry at least 3 bottles of water and 1 bottle with electrolytes.

Hydration is critical in any endurance activity—cycling, trekking, or running. It’s not just water you lose through sweat, but also salts and electrolytes. Many people only drink water, which can lead to cramps, dizziness, and fatigue. Using electrolyte solutions like Electral, Enerzal, Fast&Up—or even lemon-salt water—is essential. I didn’t know about this earlier, but now I make sure to follow it and have seen the benefits.

As we progressed over 15–16 hills, people kept counting—“fourth done, seventh done”—often debating the exact count. At night, it’s hard to distinguish hills clearly, because some require full descents while others don’t. So, only experienced trekkers could confidently track them.

As with any trek, some people get tired early and start asking, “How much more?” Usually, people say “just 10–15 minutes more” to encourage others. After hearing that a few times, amateur trekkers either get the point or start feeling frustrated.

Since this trek is long, the “10–15 minute” answer wouldn’t work here. Instead, one regular trekker named Saurabh used to answer everything in terms of “45 minutes.” Initially, “this next hill will take 45 minutes,” then “just another 45 minutes,” and towards the end, the scale of his answer reduced to 20 minutes.

One interesting thing was that many climbs were very direct—almost straight up. Usually, trails zigzag, but here we often climbed straight toward the peaks ahead of us. From a distance, it would look like people walking on a 2D mountain image.

The terrain has a lot of loose sand, especially in summer when everything is dry, increasing the risk of slipping during descents. Some sections were tricky; one even had a rope installed for support. Everyone used head torches—which are far better than handheld ones for such climbs. As our Red Team was ahead of the pack, we would finish our climb first, and looking back, we could see a chain of 40–50 headlamps from top to bottom on the hill—it looked amazing.

With 58 people, it was natural for the group to spread out. The organisers used walkie-talkies to coordinate, since the mobile network is unreliable during the trek. They kept updating each other about group positions and paused occasionally for breaks. After 2–3 hours, we had a longer break to eat snacks.

After the long break, we were told the official trek ends at Kondhanpur Phata, and reaching Sinhagad requires an additional 2–3 km uphill. Only those who reached first and had enough energy could continue; others would take buses to the hotel.

From here, teams were dissolved, and those aiming for Sinhagad stayed closer to Ramesh Anna. Sagar and I were determined to go up to Sinhagad. To motivate myself, I came up with one reason: that was the only way to do the full K2S (not just K2K—Katraj to Kondhanpur). Luckily, we stayed among the first 10–15 people and made it till the end.

Sinhagad was visible from the beginning, identifiable by its tower and blinking red lights. Like seeing the gate or top of the fort or a saffron flag during daytime treks, this kept us motivated. As we got closer, Khadakwasla dam became visible, and the sky turned orange before sunrise—adding to the beauty.

We had been warned that the last 3–4 hills are going to be tough, not because they are extremely hard, but because you’re already exhausted by then. People kept talking about a “W-shaped” pattern of climbs. I kept hearing questions and discussions like “When is that ‘W’ going to start?”… “It’s not actually a W. It’s V followed by W”… “The trek is easy up to now… crossing that W is the real challenge…”

Personally, I didn’t find them too difficult—perhaps because the weather was good. I’ve also learned that constantly thinking about or asking others about the next landmarks or “when will this end?” kind of questions only drains your morale. It’s better to just keep moving and enjoy the journey.

By the time we reached Kondhanpur Phata, it was daylight. Around 28 people continued toward Sinhagad; the rest took buses. We took a short break at a viewpoint, clicked photos, and continued via a mountain route.

Here, something interesting happened—we deviated from the main trail and climbed higher, only to find a difficult descent ahead. Some experienced trekkers managed it, but others struggled, causing a bottleneck. We tried finding an alternate path, but it was slippery due to dry sand. Some people got quite scared, though overall it was a fun experience. We also got to see the rear side of Sinhagad, which is usually not visible from Pune.

After reaching the Sinhagad parking area, we had a well-conducted stretching session led by Saachi. Then we took a jeep to Kondhanpur Phata and boarded our buses to a hotel where lunch was arranged. After freshening up, we enjoyed a simple but delicious meal—curd, pithla-bhakri, baingan bharta, dal-rice—similar to what you get at Sinhagad.

Certificates were distributed to all participants, and volunteers and guides were applauded for their efforts. Finally, we boarded our buses and headed home.

This trek had been on my mind for many years, and by God’s grace, it turned out to be an amazing experience—with great weather, a positive atmosphere, enthusiastic companions, and many beautiful views.

Chopta Chandrashila Tunganath : 2 : Haridwar - Sari - Deoria Tal

Previous Post in this series : Chopta Chandrashila Tunganath : 1 : A day in Haridwar

Experience this series on Youtube :
Chopta Chandrashila Trek | Part 1 | A day in Haridwar
Chopta Chandrashila Trek | Part 2 | Haridwar Sari Deoria Tal

On second day of our trip, we had to go for a long road trip from Haridwar to Sari village.

Even though the distance is merely around 200 km, the road is entirely among the mountains. There is only sigle lane on each side on most of this road. That makes this travel slow.

And to add to that, there was a huge traffic jam around Haridwar and Rishikesh. Because of the peak season tourists and pilgrims have flocked to these cities. There are roadworks going on in many places. We came to know that because of this, the traffic jam is happening there on daily basis.

Our group of 8 people, and 6 other trekkers had arrived in Haridwar. Trek the Himalayas had arranged 3 cars (sumo / bolero) for us. They picked us from Haridwar Station and got stuck in traffic. It took 5-6 hours for just Rishikesh to pass.

Unfortunately, the car I that was travelling in broke down in the middle of traffic. Other two cars moved ahead and we got stuck just outside Haridwar.


It took 2-3 hours to call the mechanic, try to repair the same car, but it did not work. By the time we feasted on delicious breakfast of various Parathas and Lassi. We also played a lot of card games to pass the time. They arranged for another car, but it also was coming from Haridwar and had to come to us through all that traffic. Finally we left from there.

After crossing Rishikesh the road was less crowded and then we could see the driving skills of our driver. All the drivers of this place drive cars in such tough mountainous roads. In cities we get cautious even in small lanes when a car comes from the opposite side and we go slowly. But they do not stop or slow down for anyone. Initially, it may be a bit of a shock, but you get used to it pretty soon.

On the way we came across the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi i.e. Devprayag. The color of the two rivers is different, the speed of the flow differs, and even after the confluence, the separation seems obvious. There is a beautiful Ghat and a village perfectly at the place of confluence. There is a way to get there. I really wanted to go to that place when I was last here on the way to Valley of Flowers and now as well. But it takes a lot of time, and its not possible when you are in rush. Especially today when we were so late already.

We did not stop anywhere except for the meal. We had to reach Sari at 5 o'clock but at we finally reached around 10. After dinner, we went to bed immediately.

In the morning, our trek leader, Devender, conducted a briefing session. Everyone gave their introduction, talked about prior trekking experience and preparations for this trek so far. The trek from Sari to Deoria Tal is very short and easy. We started the trek after our breakfast.

This trek is 3-4 kilometers long and moderately steep. Even after taking many breaks we reached comfortably before lunch in 3-4 hours.

We were offered welcome drinks made from Rhododendron at camp site. Its a plant that grows around this area. The drink looks and tastes a lot like Rooh Afza and is equally tasty and refreshing.

After reaching there Devender made us do stretching exercises for few minutes. I love this thing very much. The stretching right after the trek eases the body, reduces the usual body pain after trek considerably.

I have done two Himalayan Treks (Valley of Flowers, Everest Base Camp ) prior to this. But we did not do this there and did not know about this. This was the first time I saw the magic of Stretching. So I loved this thing that Trek The Himalayas had thoughtfully put in the plan.

Soon after that it started raining. We waited for some time after lunch for rains to stop. But it continued, so we went to see the lake after which this place is named. Tal in Deoria Tal means lake. 

This is a very beautiful lake, but due to the rain we could not enjoy the beauty there and around fully. We returned quickly.

We played games with everyone for a long time and had fun. In the evening the rain stopped a bit, and we then went on the small hillsides nearby. Clouds were slowly moving away and we were able to see the beautiful views around Deoria Tal. 

And after some time we got to see the snow covered peaks for the first time in the trip. The joy everyone felt at that moment was beyond words. Everyone was just in awe and couldn't stop exclaiming how beautiful the sights were.

It was evening time and clouds were playing with the light, we couldn't capture the beauty in camera as beautifully as we were seeing it first hand. Sometimes God shows man something so magnificent that his art and his devices lack the strength to capture that magnitude of beauty. In such moments you can just enjoy the moment fully and just be thankful for letting us be in it.

With a small trek, games, nature and beauty this day was spent wonderfully. The next day, however, there was a challenge of 20 kilometers of trek to Baniya kund. Keep watching the space for more on it.

(To be continued...)

Chopta Chandrashila Tunganath : 1 : A day in Haridwar

You can experience this day in Haridwar in this Youtube video.

Once you experience the Himalaya up and close, it keeps calling you again and again. Words are not enough to describe the magical beauty, serenity and peace you witness there. I first saw it close in our trek to Valley of flowers. (You can read about it here.) In couple of years I also had the opportunity to go for a trek to Everest Base Camp. (But sadly haven't yet managed to write about it)
After that memorable trek, I was just waiting to go in Himalayas again.

I got that chance this year. Just last week, me and my group of 8, did a trek to "Chopta Chandrashila Tunganath" with Trek The Himalayas. Trek the Himalayas is a company which arranges many treks in Himalayas, just like its name suggests. They have a headquarter in Rishikesh.

This trek to Chandrashila was the last one this season by them. They allow upto 24 people in one batch. This time, our group of 8, another 6 trekkers and a trek leader from company, a total of 15 people were there in the trek.

Many Himalayan trek locations in India are in Uttarakhand. Most of the trek packages start in Haridwar, Dehradun or Rishikesh. Our package was Haridwar to Haridwar. They gather everyone in Haridwar, and take them by road to a village Sari. That is the starting point of actual trek.

We traveled from Pune to Mumbai by cab, then direct flight to Dehradun, and then by cab again to Haridwar. Though Jolly Grant airport is known as Dehradun airport, its not in Dehradun city. In fact its between Haridwar Dehradun and Rishikesh. 

Though the expected travel time from airport to haridwar is 1 hour, we were delayed because of traffic. We came to know from our driver, that because of the peak tourism season, this traffic has become the norm these days.

We reached in afternoon, and everyone was hungry by then. We checked into the hotel rooms and immediately inquired about good options for lunch. The hotel manager suggested a restaurant called Hoshiyarpuri. We decided to go there.

Our hotel was in a very small lane, and at that time there were no rickshaws passing by. There were few cycle rickshaws but we were hesitating to hire them. The thought of a man pulling 4 other individuals in good health in a cycle rickshaw was a bit awkward. 

But the other thought was if everyone hesitates to hire them, what will they do? As we didn't have much options in the scorching heat, we finally hired them. 

We reached Hoshiyarpuri restaurant in about 10-15 minutes. "Since 1937" was written on the board there which was indicating how old the hotel is. Though not a grand one, there was enough crowd to suggest it's popularity. 

We got the table for 8 in 4-5 minutes. By then the waiter had offered us temporary seats, served us water, helped settle inside as it was too hot outside. He also had provided menu card to decide the order even before we got the table.

Every dish that we ordered was yummy. But we specially liked the Kathal ki sabzi (Jackfruit), and lassi. In Pune, the lassi served in shops is generally usually thick and sweet. But the north indian style of making it fresh and thin, with less sugar is nice.

After having food we again looked for alternatives to cycle rickshaw for few minutes. But didn't get any. So again we hired cycle rickshaws back to our hotel.

We rested for just about an hour and it was time to go out again. We had to go to Har ki Paudi to experience the Ganga Aarti (worshipping the holy river of Ganga/Ganges). We had also heard a lot about the tasty street food around Har Ki Paudi. None of us were interested in visiting temples in so much crowd. When you get group of like minded people on trip, its more fun.

Luckily this time we got a e-rickshaw (that runs on battery). I got a chance to drive that for few seconds as none of us including the driver were in any rush.

In this visit of mine to Haridwar, the river water seemed pretty clean to me. When I was here the last time, it was too dirty and polluted. I wasn't feeling like even touching it that day. But this time we entered the river, clicked some photos, had fun. Not sure if this happened automatically or due to the initiatives like Swachh Bharat (Clean India) and Namami Gange. 

Har Ki Paudi is always crowded. And crowd keeps increasing as we get close to the time of Aarti. People occupy suitable spots from where its visible and stay there for hours. We didn't get a place in front. People in front were standing and the security guard was requesting repeatedly to sit down, but they were ignoring him. Obviously we had no choice but to stand and watch.

The Puja, Aarti and other ceremonies keep going for long time. Several agents roam around and try persuading people to do the Puja. People believe that bathing in Ganga can absolve them of their sins, if someone's ashes are immersed in Ganga, he gets Moksha. So at the same moment there, many are bathing, many are immersing ashes or the Nirmalya (remnants from an offering to deity). 

After the Puja by several Pundits, the recorded Aarti of Ma Ganga begins. It is beautiful ceremony to both watch and listen. After the main aarti several people go amongst people with a puja thali in their hand hoping for offerings from people. Several people offer money to them. 

Once it was over, we started our food journey in Haridwar. Sameer from our group had gathered some info from net. 

The first eatery we went to was just around the corner. We ahd Samosa, Khasta Kachauri, Puri Sabzi, and a sweet dish called Chandrakala. The taste was okayish but everything was full of oil and ghee. We were fortunate to have a group of 8, so we could try many dishes. Its not possible with a small group.

We roamed around in the market with very small lanes, several shops and too many people. Sameer was navigating us using google maps towards Jain chaat bhandaar. Without google it will be difficult for outsiders. We tried few things on the way like Paan Di Gilauri (sweet dish), Juice of Bael fruit (it was refreshing). 

Jain chaat bhandaar was the best part of the evening. The shopkeeper was a soft speaking and loving person. He chatted with us, told us about his cuisines, his speciality (Kaanjiwada). His food was as awesome as his sweet manner of speaking.

We tried Kanji wada, Gol gappe, Aaaloo chaat. Everything was just awesome. I regretted not coming here before eating other stuff. I would have more space for the chaat dishes there. But anyway whatever we had was great. Thanks to Sameer and internet for this discovery.

After that we had Kulfi and Badam (almond) milk for desserts and finally put a stop to eating.

With heavy bellies we managed to sleep somehow, as we had to get up early next morning. Next day we had to travel to Sari, the actual starting point of our trek.

To be continued...

P.S. You can experience this day in Haridwar in this Youtube video.

(In)Tolerance

Modi government, intolerance, secular fabric, bans... these are the current topics that everybody is discussing on, and coming up with their opinions. Here I am with mine own.

Who I am? "An Indian" is the answer most of you wouldn't be satisfied with. You would want to know my religion. Because a part of this debate is also on religious groups. 

I am a Hindu. Now at least half of you would stop reading here, taking my stand for granted. 

Are you still reading? Thanks. I might make some sense, so please read till the end.

I don't want to mix issues, so let me express my opinion on each separately.

Beef ban/Meat Ban :

Hindu people consider cows as holy. Why? To explain that I may have to write another detailed post. In short, and all myths apart (like cow hosts 33 crore deities in it's body) Hindu culture celebrates and worships almost every aspect of nature and life. Anything that gives us something useful, and benefits us, we worship it. And that's how we have so many gods.

So a lot of Hindus don't like the idea of beef. But there are also Hindus who don't mind if others eat it, and some eat beef themselves. So this beef ban is not supported by each and every Hindu. I don't mind if someone eats beef. It's individual choice everybody has got. I don't support this beef ban, and I can assure you there are many more Hindus like me. So I am against government on this part.

Now about the meat ban in Mumbai that was widely discussed and criticized. "Paryushan Parv" is an important festive occasion of Jain community, which is known for it's belief in non violent philosophy and pure vegetarian food. The ban on meat for some days during this time was there since years, even in the time of Congress lead government. 

Again I am against imposing things and forcing people to do or not do some things which should not be a concern for anybody else. But this issue was brought up in limelight only now and linked to BJP government. Wouldn't you get suspicious by the timing of this discussion?

Dadri Incident : 

Some Hindu people suspected that a Muslim family is having beef. On this mere suspicion they got violent, entered their house, and killed him. 

What reaction do you expect? Any man with his sanity intact would condemn this incident. It does not matter which religion he belongs to. This is against basic humanity.

Intolerance :

But to say that Hindus (in general) have become intolerant is stretching this a little too far. It is the same community that has been known for tolerance for centuries. Hinduism is not a very structured and organized faith. It has a mixture of many cultures, learning from every community that existed in India, settled in India, or tried to invade India.

A lot of kings and emperors tried to invade and loot India. People from other religions came with a "mission" and tried to convert people here by all means possible. How many such Hindu missions are you aware of?

"Ghar Wapsi" (literally meaning to return home, in this event, Hindus who have converted to other faiths, were asked to convert again to be Hindu) was criticized a lot. I am not aware of all the facts of how this thing was executed, so if it was forcefully done, or any unethical thing was done, I condemn the execution.

But what about the concept? Missions of other faiths are sponsored by their central bodies. It is ok for others to convert people in other religion. But it is not ok if people are converted to Hinduism? Why so?

If you want to criticize the manner in which people are lured into conversion, then you should criticize that specifically. But bias against conversion of one religion is not acceptable.

There are lot of terrorist organizations who claim to be fighting for Islam, they call it Jihad. So when these attack people all over the world, and people look suspiciously towards all Muslim people, it is said that terror has no religion. 

Good human beings in Islam, condemn these activities, they say that Islam does not teach this, and these terrorists are not true Muslims. 

Same logic applies here. Those people in Dadri do not define Hinduism, do not represent the Hindu community. They chose the wrong path, and we ask for strict action against them.

Creative Freedom / Free Speech / Freedom of expression :

Creative people are claiming that they don't have creative freedom in this country. Random people oppose them and threaten them. 

Yes. Incidents like this have happened, and keep happening. It is wrong. But it is not completely stoppable. They keep happening all across the world.

Movies like Da Vinci Code, The last temptation of Christ were opposed by christian community everywhere.

A french magazine was attacked twice for publishing cartoons related to Prophet Muhammad. A R Rahman had to face a fatwah for working in a project related to Prophet Muhammad.

The point is no religious community takes slights against it's faith casually.

So what happenes in India if someone says something against Hinduism?

A famous painter M F Husain paints Hindu gods as naked, and in combinations or positions which are not described in any mythological book. Does creative freedom mean the freedom to insult gods and beliefs of another religion? M F Husain faced criticism and opposition and leaved this country. And many Hindus were sad with his departure.

Had he drawn something like that about Islam, what would happen? Above examples are sufficient to explain that.

A film "PK" starring Aamir Khan released, which spoke about strange practices in mainly Hinduism, and other religions for token. A lot of people criticized it, but a lot also liked it (including me), and it was a super hit. I don't mind introspecting our way of life and denying a scope improvement if there is any.

As Aamir Khan rightly said in his controversial interview, to protest is our right and we should exercise it in a non violent manner. So I am against any violent act of protest.

Every individual and community have right to protest, but law should be respected as well. The violent attacks I mentioned above, and murders of people like Dabholkar, Pansare are to be condemned.

But when such incidents are happening world wide, to single out a community and call it intolerant is not good. Misled individuals do this, and they do not represent common man.

I am not justifying any violence, but that is a world we are forced to live in.

Returning Awards :

Awards are given to recognize and honor exemplary work done in some field, during that year. The winner is chosen from other competing individuals with equally respectable body of work.

You can return the trophy and the award amount, but how can you return the honor? How can you return the recognition of being that award winner?

When you return award that you accepted before, can it be given to somebody else who performed well that year? Does it matter now?

I understand that it is your gesture. And I appreciate that it is a non violent (physically) way to protest. But I don't see a point. What I only see is it when you use it as a weapon to throw at someone, it shames the government, insults people among whom you were chosen, and the nation.

What I Want? : 

I am concerned that this debate itself is causing much more religious tension than there actually is in this country. It is blown out of proportion. People are emphasizing on last 7-8 months when they speak of intolerance. 

That's what I don't understand. If serial bomb blasts can't scare people at this level, if mass killing in 26/11 can't scare people this much, if continuous violations by Pakistan can't scare people this much, how can few incidents on smaller scale compared to these can scare people for months?

There were and will always be some foolish leaders, who make silly statements. They exist in all political parties. We can do best to ignore them.

I love my country which has hosted all the faiths in world, where people from all parts and faiths of world have come, settled and prospered. 

I see this issue becoming bigger than it deserves, and affecting all the society. The world is looking at India as a land of rapists, intolerant communal people. Is it really so? Are we all such degraded human beings? We need to decide how far do we want to take this.

I want this to end, and people going back to their business. Because this hyped issue is damaging our reputation and diverting our focus from development to these issues.

I think religion should not be our top national issue. There are many deserving candidates to be on that spot. 

Let's keep religion personal and in our home. That's when we are religious. When we bring it out it is communal. Let's be religious (not compulsory), but let's not be communal.

Indian Philanthropy

I saw one discussion with Aamir Khan and Bill Gates on news channel regarding social issues.

Bill Gates is active in health care issues through his foundation at international level. He has worked effectively on this front in India as well. Aamir Khan has also exhibited his concern for social causes with his popular TV show, "Satyamev Jayate". This program I saw was a discussion on their individual work, and solutions on other issues.

Some readers might not know this, that Bill Gates ranked as the richest person on the earth in fortune lists for several years. He must still be in a leading position in that, I am not sure. He donated half of his wealth for social and charitable causes, to try and solve some issues. Some other billionaires Warren Buffet, Marc Zuckerburg also joined him.

So in this context, he was asked about his experience in this area. And why in India, except for Azeem Premji and few others, no prominent example can be given. The host also asked Aamir for his opinion on this. Aamir quickly pointed out that, it's not that Indians don't donate. They do. But they are inclined to donate to religious institutions like temples, mosques, and churches. If the same donations would get channeled towards other issues, the situation would be different, and god would actually be happier.

In this discussion, they revealed the true picture of Indian mentality. Tirupati temple in India, is the richest religious institution in the world. Every year we read in news papers, that somebody gave millions of rupees, or few kg gold, or a golden crown to Sai Baba/ Tirupati etc. That many temples have collected crores of rupees in their donations.

How useful is it to our nation and our society? The great fakir, Sai Baba, who lived his life with simplicity, and gave the same message through deeds, was worshiped by his followers for those same reasons. But now the irony is, the statue/temple of same Baba gets a golden throne. diamond crown, silk clothes. How does it matter to a common devotee who worships him? 

We worship the gods or such gods-men for what they are, not for what they wear.

The donations given to such institutions are mostly spent on the same institution itself. It's a cycle. The temple grows in size, following, gets developed, redeveloped again and again. Hotels, shops, surround it and an industry grows with that temple at its center.This is very well depicted in the award winning Marathi movie "Deul".

In hindu customs, we make offering of food items to the god, and it is shared among devotees as a 'Prasad'. But now a days, it is not shared, but sold in temples. Outside many temples, you get to see a list of different "Poojas" carried out in that temple, and the rates of priests to do it. I get a feeling of looking at a menu card, it is so actually.

I heard somewhere that all the change that is collected inside temples as a donation is exchanged with notes of shopkeepers who need change. And the temples have their own exchange rates for such transactions.

At every big enough temple, we see lot of poor, crippled, hungry beggars outside. If the temples hold such massive amounts, why don't they take care of such people?

Beggars is altogether a different topic. I don't care for fine and healthy people who can work and earn, instead they beg in the name of god. But what about people who can't work, e.g. very old/ very sick, eunuchs, etc. They don't get earning opportunities easily. If few big temples/ religious institutions show strong will and act for them, they can support them. But we don't see it happening.

The point is the donation in a religious institution is not best deserved. And undeserving donation is as good as money wasted. 

I am not against god. I personally believe in god. I am grateful to him for my life. But I don't believe any more in donating in a temple. Except for a few rare occasions like when i got a job, when i got married, I have not donated much in the temples. Instead, I donate the same amount to a needy and genuine beggar outside.

It is possible, that we can divert our donations to NGOs which are actually benefiting our society, which are doing work that is really required. If a large number of people start doing this, they (good NGOs) will be empowered, and encouraged to work more. Our help would reach the needy people through these organizations, and make them smile. I am very much sure, God would be smiling too. :)

Read this post in Marathi : दानशूर भारत

Aap k lie App

Do you miss your mobile bill deadlines and get penalized for it? Just because you didn't find the time to go to a bill pay facility or were lazy to start your laptop and pay it online?

Do you wish to change your plan, try something that suits to your usage more but still stuck with the same plan for the same reasons?

Do you find it difficult to manage all the Airtel services you have subscribed to and keep a track of all of them?

Well, the solution is here. Khas aap k lie ak app.

Airtel has come up with #MyAirtelApp that empowers you to do it all any time in your palms, on your smart phone.

This cool new app makes all the above tasks a lot easier and convenient.

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You may have subscribed to Aitel mobile, Airtel DTH service, Airtel broadband service, this app lets you view and manage all these services in single and simple place.

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Many people are opting for net banking and doing things online, but there is still some fear of doing it on phones. Hence they prefer it to do it on desktops, but with MyAirtelApp you can rely on the secure payment service available here.

We love to connect and express but our communication patterns keep changing. When we are busy with work, in movies, we prefer to text and not to talk. When we are relaxed and feel like talking to a friend we last spoke with weeks ago, we prefer to do it on call rather than a chat.

In some months we may download a lot of apps and have many online activities, and in the next it may lower down.

The point is, even if your usage changes and you are still using and paying with the same plan, you might be doing it wrong way.

My Airtel App lets you keep a track of your usage, current outstanding amount, already used volumes of voice and data, and let you make informed decision of buying additional top ups required, or change plan completely.

And all this is available on the app itself. You need not waste time in finding and visiting a nearest Airtel store in their working hours (compromising yours), with a few touches on your screen you can do it yourself.

You can also set easy alerts for you to be aware when you are running out of data or balance, when you are near your due date, etc.

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If you observe that you do certain activities more often than others, you can mark them as favorite under "I want to" and reach them quickly.

The best is yet to come. With all these convenience and benefits of doing it smartly, you get rewarded for doing it.

Airtel surprises literally surprises you with the exciting vouchers and discount coupons with various other partners like flipkart, CCD, Dominos, etc.

So imagine, you get an app, you use it, decide on your services, and pay for it all at the comfort of your couch in your house. The tedious and boring part is done.

But for this you get rewarded and are encouraged to go out and use these surprises and celebrate the awesome moments with your loved ones.

 I don’t think it can get better than this. So be smart, download the #MyAirtelApp now on your smartphone, and use it smartly.

This post is my entry for #MyAirtelApp activity by Airtel

Decade Of Leagues

Every era, every age, every century, every decade is later identified for some unique and historical events and inventions that happened in that duration. Because such events and inventions have a lasting impact on the mankind and its history. Hence it is important to remember such times with their highlights.

If you look at the present decade in India, especially sports and games field, the decade can easily be identified as a decade of leagues.

Every game is played at different levels across the world, like school and college teams, regional teams, state level to national and international level. Apart from the official tournaments where countries send their teams, there are also tournaments held by other organizers, where teams privately owned by individuals or partners play with each other. 

Football leagues are among the most popular leagues in the world. The teams participating in these leagues like Manchester United, Barcelona have worldwide fan base. 

In India, cricket being the most popular game, the league culture was prominently brought to the nation by IPL (Indian Premier League). It is one of the most followed cricket tournament in the world now. 

Other games followed the suit, and in recent years we saw leagues for hockey, boxing, kabaddi etc. A cricket league for celebrities (CCL) was also started. 

The league is formed by a number of teams which select talented players from any country, region, religion to play for them. Talent is the only defining factor here. 

Apart from the official games within countries, these leagues have their own benefits. When a country is playing against other it is a matter of national pride and patriotism for the fans of each country. The love for nation unites with love for the game.

But in the leagues, it is purely the love for the game. It helps to increase the popularity of the game, and give a chance to fans to see great players from different countries and regions join forces to play with each other.

In IPL, it was a treat to see a pair of Sachin and Sanath open batting together, or to see Sachin and Ponting play together. This would not have been possible otherwise. Players like Harbhajan and Andrew Simonds which were involved in a row in major controversy were able to forget it all and play cricket professionally for a same team.

Celebrities who would be seen on field very rarely playing a exhibition game or a charity match were seen regularly playing together. It was a sure delight for fans.

An Indian game like Kabaddi, which was sidelined by cricket for ages, and had been ignored by audiences for long, was revived and popularized again by a Pro Kabaddi League.

The league are also benefiting their respective games by giving a huge platform for the budding talent in young players to be recognized quickly. 

India is a populous country. It's population is many times larger than many small countries in world which produce legendary players. So statistically speaking, India should produce more talented players, if not legendary. But it is not that way.

The sports infra in India is still developing and has a tremendous scope for improvement.

The leagues push the country in that direction. Many talented players which were struggling before to get noticed have found fame and money by playing leagues.

Now, India's first world cup winning captain, Kapil Dev has come up with a new league. He's been reaching out to public with tweets and videos about this league. #EkNayiLeague is trending. What's that is about? Well that's the suspense. Kapil is posting tweets and videos speaking about this league.

Watch in above video, where he is explaining the hit wicket in cricket (getting out because of yourself), and says if you play with your heart in this new league, you would loose.

Now in this video message, he is praising Dhoni for making a wonderful team, and in which he's put his heart. But he is also saying that don't put your heart in my new league, because you would loose. One more surprise in this video is Kapil Dev's never before seen mimicry skills.

Here is a similar message for Sania Mirza. Kapil praises Sania, for performing well in the tennis, which is a rare arena for Indian girls. He also advises her that don't play my league using your heart.

In these videos, he is promising viewers that he will tell them about this league on his twitter handle. So here is the link to Kapil Dev's twitter handle, keep a watch on it to know more.

Since he is emphasizing in each video, that this league is not the one to play with your heart, my guess is it is to be played using your brains, your mind. So I guess it is a league of chess. 

If my guess is correct, it would be a welcome event. India is the origin of this wonderful mind game. Grand masters like Vishwanathan Anand belong to India. And a league of chess would do wonders for budding chess players in India.

Whatever it is, I am one of many who are eagerly waiting for this. You also check it out on this website, make a guess.

This post is my entry in #EkNayiLeague activity by EkNayiLeague.com

Let's Go Digital

The new government in India has started many positive and useful campaigns like “Clean India” (स्वच्छ भारत), “Make in India”, “PM Jan Dhan Yojana”, etc. All these campaigns have a good purpose, and huge potential if implemented appropriately. One such initiative is “Digital India”.

Image Source : MapsOfIndia.com

India is still under developing country. Many parts of India are yet to be connected by strong telephone networks, lack regular power supply, proper infra-structure. Work towards Digital India will also push for improvements in these aspects.

When the era of computers started, many opposed to it fearing computers may replace human work, may take jobs away. This is true partially. Computer will replace human work which is redundant, will only take jobs of people who refuse to learn and update themselves.

If we look at the larger picture, computers have only helped mankind in achieving accuracy, efficiency, greater scientific feats. The industries that identified the benefits of automation, are now flourishing.

Take the example of banking today. A customer has many ways of accessing and transacting on his account like internet, mobile, twitter (surprising, but yes) that never existed before. A quick alert on a mobile of every transaction, a mini statement from ATM enabled him to be informed and aware of his account without having the need to go to a branch to update his passbook. Moreover he got the freedom of not having to go to a branch for almost all possible banking activities.

Earlier customer depended on the bank, and was required to go to the branch and stand in queue for everything. With technology coming in picture, the scenario has changed to be customer oriented. Due to the heavy competition by private banks, even the nationalized banks are forced to be techno savvy and customer friendly. The banking is the best example of what technology can do to empower both the customer and a service provider.

The same needs to happen to the biggest and most important sector in India, The Government. Like banking, people heavily depend on government for many things. From birth certificate to death certificate, identity documents, property documents, tax documents etc. all major aspects of our life on paper is issued and monitored by government.

We elect a government; they hire people, to do things for us, to serve us. We pay tax to help them run the nation. But unfortunately we don’t get the (well deserved) friendly feeling in any government office. We have to wait long for the smallest of things, to get answer for simple questions. Even though we comply all the rules, complete our documentation, we don’t have a certainty of getting things done in reasonable time.

That’s why we go to unofficial agents, who have contacts and promise to do our work in lesser time, and charge hefty commission for it. To save our time, we ignore that we are becoming a part of corrupt act.

Technology can change all this. E-Governance can bring in many necessary changes in the way government and related services function. It can make it more reliable and efficient. Taking government digital will automatically promote and increase digital literacy in India, and fulfill the vision of Digital India.

Here is how it should work and benefit:

Efficiency

Computers are obviously way faster than humans in certain things, and this brings efficiency in work. Things that usually take time in government are communication within departments, horizontal communication within peers, or vertical communication in hierarchy for approvals can work faster, and help getting results faster.

Framework

Software works on logic and clear decision framework. If you input 2+2, you are bound to get 4.

So, in many offices you will see government officials seating on files with various proposals, applications with no logical reason. Clear framework and guidelines enforced by system will ensure faster decisions.

When person applies for some certificate, or a contractor submits a tender, if he has satisfied all the conditions, he should get it in stipulated time, and not wait for mercy from some officer.

Reporting

Statistical reporting is one of the areas computers are best at. When a carefully detailed database of all the activities and transactions government does, is created and maintained, computers can generate all kinds of reports.

So it will be easy to generate reports of running projects, deadlines, pending projects, stuck projects etc. So is applicable for all applications pending in government offices.

Access to Information

Anna Hazare fought for and won the RTI act for public. But it is still a tedious and time consuming task. With technology, it will be easier to access and provide required information faster.

People will be able to monitor all small to big government projects. They can ask for the status of road construction in their area, its budget, name of contractor etc. If they find any irregularity they can report it.

Now there is an app for everything. Imagine an app, where you can take photo of potholes on the road, a leaking pipeline or uncollected garbage, and send it to relevant department. You will get a ticket number for your report, and sent alerts on progress.

Transparency

When a good e-governance system is implemented, it brings transparency in decision making. It is easy to derive why a certain decision was taken, why something was selected over the other. There is no place for nepotism in e-governance.

Less Corruption

With all above, it is obvious that e-governance will help reduce the corruption. Like I explained above, in current system, you have to bribe to get things done faster than usual, or for legalizing illegal things. When things will be done transparently, efficiently, and in friendly manner, people who are forced to bribe will choose to avoid it. People who love to bribe will find it difficult.

Good Implementation is essential

Image Source : Wikipedia

When a promising initiative like Aadhar (providing unique identity to citizens) struggles to be accepted by people, I feel sad. A unique identity can turn things around in this country.

It can save a lot of documentation; it can help government identify individuals and their assets. To identify people who are earning enough but not paying taxes will be easy. To identify people who (really) need help will be easy. This will help generate more revenues for government, and providing aid only for those who really need it.

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Though a man like Nandan Nilekani, was involved at top level of this project, it was the staff who mishandled things at ground level, which caused the issues like corruption to get the Aadhar Card, delays and duplicate records in a database that is created with a purpose of providing unique identification to citizens.

But the scheme is gearing up now. Aadhar card is widely demanded and accepted as important documentation. With Aadhar card, and linked bank accounts, central government successfully launched the PEHEL initiative to transfer the LPG subsidy directly to eligible customer accounts.

Like the benefits I have listed above, this will reduce the subsidy leakage in the system, i.e. wrong use of subsidy. This also enabled Government to ask rich people to stop getting subsidy, and many came forward in response to this. The response saved crores of rupees for government.

So it highlights that only having good schemes or initiatives will not be enough, we need people to understand its importance. By people I mean both who implement it, and who participate in the change. So that, implementing people will be aware of the impact they will create, and do it sincerely. Also we will get less complaints from the people who are supposed to participate in and benefir from the scheme. Only then we can hope for the fulfillment of the purpose of starting an initiative.

I realize that this post is getting longer, and may seem like a campaigning material for government. But I really see the potential in technology to do good for our nation. I feel really passionate about this topic.

It is good to see companies like Intel (http://www.intel.in/) also share this passion. Intel is committed towards our government's vision of a Digital India. Through its ‘Digital Skills for India’ and ‘Innovate for India’ initiatives, Intel has been fostering technology as the enabler for creating a digitized India.

As a software engineer, I can visualize the positive change e-governance can bring to India. I want to be a part of #DigitalIndia. I expect the same from you. Let's go Digital.

This post is my entry in the #DigitalIndia contest by Intel and +IndiBlogger