I've found my soulmate :).

I've Found My Partner For The Times To Come.

Since a long time I've had a mental image of how a companion for life should be. I'd dream that she'd be a dark-skinned beauty, with a twinkle in her eye and a shy demure smile, full of energy and fun to be with at all times.

Sometime back I realized that I'm now at the juncture when I should start looking around actively ( for a companion ). It was on one thusly motivated quest that I met her last week. Oh she was not straight out of my dreams, but she was close. She was dark skinned minus the smile and the twinkle. But her other attributes more than made up for this slight lack.

The moment we met there was a chemistry going and I've never left her alone in every waking moment since she came into my life last week and am even writing this with her smiling back at me as I write it :) .

The only trouble is that she is very "hot tempered" and one thing she absolutely cannot stand is "power cuts" for more than 3 hours at a time. She keeps wondering how we manage to live with them at all.

That apart she's ideal for me as she too is deeply involved in computing and everything related to them. She just adores bit crunching ( 64 at a time please ).

Anyways here's her pic. Please bless the couple :) !!!

Birding in the Valley

Sinhagad Valley is the place to usually go birding when you don't go to the other places that you usually go birding. :)
So this weekend, I went with a friend. The valley is a mix of scrub and forest vegetation and spotting birds is not very easy here. As an amateur birder, you can't expect to see too many "exotic" birds, though you can hear a lot of calls.

We parked our car @ the village near the base and started on foot. We went into the left side of the valley. It was early morning and the jungles were alive with a lot of bird calls; prominently those of doves.

This is a good time to visit the area since a lot of trees are leafless right now, with spring just begining to make its presence felt. It just makes spotting the birds that much more easier.

We had walked for around 15 minutes spotting nothing but doves and jungle bablers and hearing calls of parakeets when my friend spotted a raptor perched in a tree on the right side of the path. It was very close to us and we immediately scrambled for our cameras and took a number of snaps. Our field guide later identified the bird as the Changeable Hawk Eagle. We stood there for some time looking @ it and then continued along the path. It was my first raptor at such close quarters and the memory will never leave me :) !

There is a lot of farming activity here and in the farms on the wayside we observed several plum headed parakeets. They had their perches in the trees on the farm boundary from where they used to fly down and hover just above the crops, screeching all the while and then fly back up again. It was fun watching this.

We continued along the valley floor and after a while went a little way up along the left shoulder. There is a moderate jungle hereabouts and though we could hear a lot of birds we couldn't spot any. We then decided to return by walking along the shoulder till we reached the right side and then descend back to the village from there.

We continued walking hearing the calls and trying to spot the birds but with hardly any success. Along the way we startled a female paradise flycatcher with the male no doubt present somewhere nearby. But it was not our lucky day and we just had to plod on w/o a glimpse of the magnificent male.

The morning was progressing towards noon and it was turning out to be a beautiful sunny day with cerulean blue skies. On the descent from the right shoulder we spotted two pairs of small minivets. They are very beautiful to watch as they flit from branch to branch and very difficult to capture in a photo due to the same reason.

Finally we descended onto a path near a field bordered by mango trees. We rested in the shade here and found that we had encroached upon the territory of a fantail flycatcher. He was vying with the bulbuls for a good spot on the mango tree beneath which we were sitting. We also spotted Common Ioras & Ashy Prinias here.

Soon it was time to go home. On the way back we tried to find a birding spot near Kirkat wadi but were not able to find it. We spotted a Black Shouldered Kite perched on an electric wire here. Near Khadakwasla, we watched as a pariah kite fished in the dam backwaters and ate its prey while still on the wing. A magnificient sight to behold.

The morning was over and it was time to go back home :( ! ... But it was fun. Birding is becoming more and more addictive to me :).

Majhya Bahinichya Lagnaala Yaycha Ha :) !

My cousin sister Priya is marrying Amol. As per our tradition we have to invite the family deity to be present at the wedding and bless the couple.

Accordingly we had been to the Ekvira temple & Karla caves for making a formal invitation to the goddess, so to say.

Some of our customs are quaint but I guess its this very quality that adds colour to the fabric of tradition and makes it so rich and vibrant.

Its just started raining in Pune since yesterday and the skies have been cloudy throughout today. I love the smell of the earth when it rains. Pics follow :) ...

All in a nights work

The last weekend we ( some colleagues from office ) made the night trek to Sinhagad from Katraj. We had decided to start off on Saturday night and reach the fort by early morning. It was nearing Amavasya on the day ( or night ) that we went and we soon found out why this trek is recommended to be done on a full moon day i.e. on a Pournima.

The trek begins when you get off the bus just after the tunnel in Katraj ghat. The trail climbs the hill on the left side of the road and doubles back to cross the tunnel over the hill. The night lights of Pune are very beautiful seen from here. You also get a beautiful view of the vehicles labouring through the ghats.

The trail then crosses the mountain and it is from here that you can see the red light atop the TV tower of Sinhagad. You better confirm with the MSEDCL that there will not be any power cuts on Sinhagad that night coz thats the one and only beacon you have to guide you. Ofcourse the trail is also marked with white arrows all along but they are irregular and you might end up missing them in some places. Then this beacon is your only hope ... so be warned.

the trek basically is a full night of climbing over hills descending into valleys and climbing some more hills and descending some more valleys while heading in the general direction of the beacon. All this while the beacon stays the same distance never appearing to have moved closer and that really really boosts your morale :P.

If you are lucky you will not get lost more than a couple of times. There are scrubs and thorny bushes all along and hence complete body covering clothing is advisable. And also enough water and a sufficient number of flashlights.

Given that you go through all the perils successfully you will reach the road to Sinhagad around predawn should be able to reach the top in time to witness the sunrise.

We started @ around 10:30 pm and reached by around 6:00 - 6:30 am. It was the second time that I have gone on this trek and it felt good. We had some snacks on top and then descended to the bus stop for the bus to Swargate. I spotted a crested bunting on the way down. Near the bus stop I also saw a White Cheeked Barbet, a Magpie Robin and a Shrike. I also spotted two pairs of small birds probably small minivets which I could not photograph.

It was a fun weekend outing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Haven't planned anything for this weekend yet. I hope something good happens :) ! Pics follow :