A Reflection of Things Around Us

Travel Log to Khardungla: There's nothing to breathe up there at 18340 feet

2009-07-26T13:17:00.002+05:30

Trip snaps are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/umashankar.nv

DOES GOD HAVE AN ADDRESS? DOES HE STAY IN A TEMPLE, A MOSQUE, A CHURCH, A SYNAGOGUE? CAN HE BE FOUND IN A PRAYER, IN AN AZAAN, IN THE CHANTS, ON A GHAAT?
THE WISE HAVE TRAVELLED AND FOUND HIM IN THEIR HEARTS.

It’s said that India is every traveler’s dream come true. India has everything which a world tour can offer. After exploring some parts of the beautiful southern India, magnificent west India. I headed for the extreme north, Leh, This was rather a dream come true for me. One pleasant evening in Bangalore Feb 2007, I was browsing through the adventure snaps of two guys who made it to the highest motorable road, Khardungla. Since then I was getting restless to do this myself.

When I moved to Mumbai in OCT 2007, there came my opportunity on 28th June 2008, with a group of bikers and a common goal. Needed one month's preparation to get things in order for the trip. Once that was through, we were all set.

Day 1: Mumbai to Delhi

Initially I was planning to ride all the way from Mumbai to Delhi, but due to a last minute assignment at work I had to desert that plan and go by train. So I set out to Delhi in a train. Booked my bike from Mumbai to Delhi the previous day. All through the journey to Delhi I was so excited to go through the maps, plans, stays, do's and dont's. Reached Delhi on a hot summer afternoon. Picked my bike from the station and stopped over at a friend's place to refresh and rest. Made sure that my bike is in working condition. One night rest.

Day 2: Shopping & Rest at Delhi

Had to do some last minute shopping for the trip. No matter how prepared you are, for one or more reasons the excitement gets the better off you. Shock No. 1, just a day before I started from Mumbai, realized that my camera has died on me. Murphy's Law. "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way. So I decided I will not let Murphy's Law bog me down. So I straight headed to Gurgoan on my bike to get by Canon fixed no matter what. Thanks to the fantastic support by Canon I received my camera all up and running by 16:00 Hrs. Now this is it I realized that is it. I am all set. So reached back to the place where we all were supposed to meet.

Shock No. 2. Some of my friends coming all the way riding from Mumbai were running behind schedule. So they will take a day more to rest and then start. The lead biker was still not back from US, by the way forgot to tell you the lead biker was suppose to join from US yes USA, he had gone there for a small project. So I was a deadbeat, all my excitement to start biking for that day was short-lived. So I sat thinking, should I venture to Shimla and meet the fellas in Manali. And the feeling got stronger and stronger by minute. At 23:45 hrs, I picked up my bags, loaded them on the bike. I just started my bike, when the lead biker landed right there, So we exchanged hugs and he wished me a safe and happy journey.

DAY 3 - 00:00 HRS - Delhi – Chandigarh - Shimla

So what if Midnights are not be the best time to ride, but believe me the bike doesn't mind it at all. Infact, the engine loves it. So did I. So fueled by bike and started towards Chandigarh. It was the feelings of a Vagabond; the sleepless ride was worth it, enjoying the pleasant breeze, light music and dhabas on the sides of the highway. Planned for an hourly break and by the time I reached Chandigarh it was 5:30.

Shock No. 3. I just realized that I lost my cellphone. 6 AM, no internet, no email and no contact list, so was in a fix. Suddenly realized that my passenger in the train had exchanged his visiting card, See how funny things work. So called him and apologized for disturbing him early morning, and yes he had internet. Got one of the biker contacts. Also called home and informed that I would not be reachable for a day or two. By this time my body was craving for rest. Checked into a hotel, freshened up ate couple of paronta's and off I went to sleep.

Got up at 11:00, first things first, needed to buy a phone and get my number back up and running. So got the job done by 16:00 hrs. Roamed around Chandigarh and Mohali. This is a place worth settling down. The city is so organized and clean. Chandigarh crowd and their sense for fashion are worth the mention here. I was in two minds whether to ride to Manali or Shimla. Today didn't want to do a night ride as the roads on the way are narrow. So chose the later. CHD to Shimla (120km) is easily the most pleasant weekend getaways and the ride was great. Stopped over at several places to put my photography to good use. Had enough variety of juices to keep my engine going.

Yes, finally my number was active by 18:00 Hrs, Reached Shimla by 18:30 Hrs, gave my bike for service and was exploring the places around to see if I can click a CANON moment..... Finally done with the service checked into the hotel. For a change, i was treated like a celebrity, the way I dressed and camera around, for a while the hotel staff thought I am from the Discovery/ Travel and living channel. Finally came out to explore places around Shimla. This was the longest conscious day of the trip, next day's ride is a long one so retired to bed.

DAY 3 : Shimla to Manali

Got up at 9 AM. Got ready and took a ride around Shimla. Shimla was busy; the roads were bustling with kids to schools and men to work. 11:30 started my onward ride to Manali. Sometimes I wonder how much nature has to offer to the mankind if we let the nature around us its space. The entire Himachal Pradesh is probably a testimony to that fact.

Took a lunch break at a Punjabi Dhaba, 154kms more to go. The paronta's, Dal and curd was filling and setting the tone for the good things to come. Most of this ride is right parallel to the river BEAS. The water levels during summers are high, good for adventure water sports, but no where compared to Hrishikesh.

Stopped over at a place where I could park my bike across the banks of the river BEAS. The water felt like a refreshing break. Reached Manali by 19:00 Hrs. Checked into the hotel. This time with a discount. Remember the Shimla hotel owner, he offered me a reference. The hotel was plush with Apple orchids, flora and ofcourse the apples. So here I am again in Manali, but for a change during summers. Now I had to park myself here for other guys to join me. One group reached half way from Chandigarh to Manali, Some still stuck behind Chandigarh due to some technical snag in one of the bikes. Touch wood, no problems with my bike yet. I met one of the groups and we roamed around the Manali market to buy some warm clothes and leather gloves. The trip has just started now. Had a wholesome meal and retired to sleep.

DAY 4: Manali - Rotang Pass.

We were still waiting for all the guys to assemble at Manali. I decided to take a pleasure trip to Rotang pass. It’s about 52 kms from Manali towards Leh. It’s about 4000mts above the sea level and generally is covered with snow during winters and very pleasant during summers with abundance of flora & limited fauna. Time 11:00AM. I thought I should be back in 3-4 hrs and try my hands at river rafting. The ride was just out of this world experience, in all the right senses except the roads; it took me 2 hrs one way. Roamed around the places. The crowd was enjoying the horse rides to the mountain peaks and I was just capturing every moment in my heart and some on camera. I was starting to feel dizzy by now; the weather was getting to me. Hence decided to lose altitude, started back and on my way stopped at a DHABA which was in the mid of the river. The star hotels which serve guests on rooftop middle of pool are no match, just to remind, I was 4000M above the sea level.
I was back by 18:00 hrs. So the ride took me approximately 5 hours to and fro. Got my bike washed and serviced. Met up with friends back in Manali and gave feedback on the horrible roads. Had to back my photos onto a USB drive before I am hit by Murphy's Law once more. Finally all the bikers arrived that night by 21:00. We decided to park tents by the BEAS, river side and the idea was fabulous. The food, the limited lighting, the gushing river and the night was and will be eternal.

PART II

Why I didn’t regret river rafting with the guys that evening.
When did I turn into an accountant
The deserted roads, springs & mountains.
The cold feet
Nature’s calling where are you
When does one truly start giving up and give into God & Destiny.

First let me start by thanking you all for the great feedback and motivation to proceed to the Part-II.

Day 5: Manali – Rotang Pass – Koksar

Finally the day had arrived; before checking out of the hotel I just took some snaps of the beautiful garden, flowers and the apple orchids. Plucked & ate couple of fresh apples too. All of us got together after having a filling breakfast. Made few groups and started towards Rotang pass. Time 11:00 AM. It’s a known fact that in these valleys you have to start early, I mean as early as 7 AM and never do a night ride unless you are in a group, weather could get extreme and god forbid if your bike is down, you had it. We were running 4 hrs late. Our plans were to reach Keylong and rest. Today the weather was against us, yesterday when I took a pleasure ride, the valley & roads were clear as far my CANON 12x optical zoom could catch. Today it was foggy and visibility was down to 1-2 Meters. Now you know the reason why I do not regret river rafting. Let’s do it at Hrishikesh / Sikkim.

From here on you see some funny & sensible Road signs, hail BRO (Border Roads Organization). The first one that got my attention, Road Sign No.1. “IT IS NOT A RUNWAY. IT IS JUST A HILLWAY.

ROAD SIGN No. 2. “HORN IS TO HONK PLEASE DO IT ON MY CURVES”. No point putting every road sign in here, I would just highlight the ones which are a stand out.

The ride was tough, there was a major landslide on the way and the four wheelers completely came to a stand still. The road was just enough to ride one bike through. The BRO was on the job to clear the mess. We were riding through rivers flowing onto roads 1-2 feet deep. No matter how many times BRO builds the roads, the landslides and the river water weathers all their efforts and this process is virtually never ending, hats off to their efforts. This is the way to keep catching up with nature. The ride to Rotang Pass that day took around 3 ½ to 4 hrs.

Stopped at Rotang Pass for everyone to arrive, in the meanwhile we had some hot noodle soup and garam chai. Unlike the regular chai, this one is made out of Yak’s milk, so it was different and for a change I liked it. Here I turned into an accountant for the group. It’s not the nicest of the jobs to do on trip but someone had to, so why not me. Here is the place where the locals were selling Shilajit, conqueror of mountains and destroyer of weakness (youth of fountain which has close to 85+ minerals) and saffron at rock bottom prices, so got some for myself.
Clicked some more CANON moments….. Especially of three cute chubby kids who were looking fabulous in their winter suits. Finally all the bikers arrived and we waved good byes to the locals and moved on. Now this is a down hill, with heavy breeze blowing which can topple even a heavy truck if you mess with the nature’s gift, the gravity. I stopped several times on my way to capture some breathtaking valley, springs and mountains.
Once, I had stopped my bike at the right side of the road and the wind was heavy and the bike was slipping away in the sand leading me off the cliff, here the bike’s first gear helped, clicked snaps parking myself on the bike. It took me nearly 5 minutes to move my bike out of the sand and get going. Finally emerged a winner, fighting the Newton’s third law of reciprocal action.

Road Sign No.3. “IF YOU ARE MARRIED PLEASE DIVORCE SPEED”. Well you know what; I thought that was not for me.

I couldn’t see any biker friends around, may be they were racing away to glory, I was in no hurry I wanted to thoroughly enjoy and cherish every minute of the ride and capture everything in my photomemory and some on my CANON S2 IS. Since I was loosing altitude breathing was getting better and better. Finally reached a place where I could see two bikers relaxing, stopped the bike and the view was perfect. On my right was a gigantic mountain and on my left a thick effervescent spring of water flowing down. This place is Koksar. We had to stop here because one of the biker’s had a flat tyre. It was 19:00 hrs. So we decided to rest for the day. This place had one deserted Dhaba and the owner was kind enough to let us park our tents next to the Dhaba. Most of the bikers were requesting to use the owner’s cellphone (BSNL Connection, the only connection which works there). The owner was paid a premium for letting us use his phone; I also got my opportunity, called home & informed parents about my whereabouts and not to expect calls for another three days. The location for the night was perfect and the Dhaba owner cooked great food for us. One of biker’s in the group was a doctor- A physician, so he was the complaint register for most of us, took a Diamox, an anti mountain sickness pill as a precaution and as recommended by him. It pays off to have a doctor on such a trip, but not a must.
Overnight lots of truckers on their way were stopping at the DHABA to have food. I was craving for rest, I was not carrying a tent, so me and one of my friends were camped inside the Dhaba, and the owner was kind to oblige. That night’s conscious sleep didn’t seem to end; finally at around 2AM the Dhaba was shut from inside and was at peace, off I went to deep sleep.

DAY 6: Koksar – Sarchu – 150 kms

6:30 AM. Got up and quickly got ready for the long ride ahead, wish we could rest for some more time. Had a paronta and thanked the owner for offering great hospitality and in return we contributed a 10 buck tip per head. Thinking of tipping, one must feel that one has to tip, not out of force or just because you walked into one of the jazzy restaurants, its not tipping that matters but the genuineness. You must watch “Reservoir Dogs” for a funny starting scene on tipping.

8 AM started the ride. This ride was actually off road with loads of dust, gravel and few trucks passing by making breathing even more difficult. Finally all assembled at Tandi which is 9 kms before Keylong, where we had a chance to refuel; we will not have any fuel station till the next 372 kms, 30 kms before Leh. Considering the roads, I did not expect a mileage of more than 20 KM/ Ltr on a Pulsar 150cc DTSi. There are places where you cannot ride above 3-5 KMPH on the first gear. I was carrying 5 ltrs of spare fuel just in case the Murphy’s Law comes haunting, however I did not use the spare fuel till I reached Leh. Bought a few Dairy milk chocolates to fight mountain sickness through the ride.

150 kms on these roads is actually a day’s ride, I mean 10-11 hrs. Reason No. 1. The roads are not motorable. 2. Several places where you would like to stop and click snaps of the great landscapes, bridges, and river, virtually everything. 3. The rising and dropping altitude is not so great for the body, so you need rest at regular intervals.

Road Sign No. 4. Tricks of survival on Hill Roads. Start Early. Drive Slowly. Reach Safely.

One of the biker’s carrier broke and had to get it welded so most of the bikers stopped at KEYLONG. I was in no mood to stop as I knew they would catch up with me faster. From here on the ride was getting a little scary with deep gorges and off roads. The next 30 min ride was taking me to altitudes where I could actually look back at most of my ride that day. I couldn’t trace a single biker on his way up. I decided to move ahead and wait for them at a place where I can rest.

It takes some time to really appreciate the towering stature of Himalayas among the world's mountains -more than top 100 of world's highest peaks are located here, in fact the highest peak outside this region is Mt. Aconcagua in Andes in South America, which at 22,841 ft it's still 1000 ft shorter than the 100th ranking Himalayan peak (and Everest is 29,000 Ft.!).

Finally found a deserted makeshift Dhaba at DEEPAK TAAL, A tiny deep blue sweet water pond at an altitude of 12,500 feet by the side, decided for a butt break. The pond had a small paddle boat, trust me I had no oxygen left in me to paddle the boat across, so gave the idea a skip. At such altitudes any physical activity can be as tiring as one can imagine.

Gained an altitude of 2500 feet from where I started. Had a hot noodle soup and tea. At these altitudes, the water boils at such low temperatures that it makes cooking really difficult, so most of what I ate I knew is half cooked. Clock was ticking fast, its been almost 2 hrs now I have been off to conscious sleep, opened my eyes, found a biker coming my way, and waved hand at him. Finally when he stopped, realized he is firangi, he is William from Vienna. So we sat sipped few cups of tea, while we were having a conversation. Finally he decided to move on and I too was getting restless for the last 2½-3 hrs so I decided to ride with him, this was my longest wait for the group. It is not recommended to spend that much time in the open at these altitudes.

From here on the ride was getting better as roads were getting better. I and William stopped at several places to click some jaw-dropping shots. We found couple of more ponds Suraj Taal & Chandra Taal. There we were at the one the highest passes in the world, BARA-LACH-LA standing at 16500 ft. (BRO data). Interesting anecdote at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baralacha_la. It was truly the feeling of reaching heaven. The Moon and the Sun, bestowing blessings on me. Now I can say with much more conviction that I have seen and been to heaven. This season the mountains are half filled with snow. The sight was mesmerizing and nothing in this world seemed more important.

Stopped at Bharatpur. Shock N0. 4, my shoes were not cold resistant, the tape around it didn’t make things any better; I was a dead man by the time I reached Bharatpur, my feet and hands were numb. Took some pictures of the mountains around and rushed into the tent house, Dhaba. I wanted to take my shoes off and put on polythene over a new pair of woolen sock. For the first time I was counting the fingers on my feet, all ten in shape, no frostbite, but no sensation too. The cold was rapidly spreading all over my body. The owner of the Dhaba had thick blankets. I took as many as 4 of them and went under cover. Had a hot tea and biscuits. Things were no where getting better, infact even after all the blankets my body was not warming up. The owner rubbed my feet and hands. William arrived, he was fine. He just needed some rest, he ate his lunch and I was in trance still recovering from the teeth-rattling cold. I was feeling unconscious. I was just not letting my eye lids close. William wanted to leave the place by now, I was in no position to pick myself up and do the ride, so I thought I will wait for sometime. The wait was not worth it. I thought to myself, is this it, should I just wait for the next army truck to come and pick me and my bike and drop me to a safe place. I let that feeling sink completely. Got up put on my shoes went near the fireplace and warmed myself up for a good 15 minutes, I was feeling a little better. I realized to start my ride now so that I reach Sarchu by dusk. Thanked the Owner and asked him to keep my biker friends posted about my whereabouts.

The rest of the ride was very conscious one with every passing minute longing an hour. The road was really narrow and bad. Stopped ate some chocolate, put on some light music & clicked some scenic beauties around me, no matter what I just didn’t want to get carried away by the anything and not capture the beauty around. That’s why my ride lasted longer…and longer and so the restlessness. At one point I had come to a stop to plan my ride through the river, it was deep and I did not know if I can pull it off without my feet getting wet. Finally at the count of three I did make it on the first gear. I was thanking my stars. Had my feet got wet, I do not know how the rest of the story from here would have been. The roads were completely deserted but for a one off truck or a bus. The roads were getting better as I was approaching Sarchu, also known as “Vomit Hilton”. At about 14,200 feet altitude, Sarchu is more acclimatization than you may need. It is very cold here, with strong windy conditions giving even camp managers who reside there constant headaches. Sarchu is enclosed with gigantic mountains on both the sides of the road and the stretch doesn’t seem to end. Found some really cool ready to check-in tents. To my surprise this camp had western commode in each tent. That’s probably a little too much to expect. I was feeling much better at Sarchu, was back to my normal self. The ride took approximately 10-11 hrs.

19:00 Hrs. All the bikers parked at the same camp, before I and William checked in. A group of two were warming their feet in hot water; some were sipping several cups of hot tea. The Biker-Doctor was at work ensuring everyone gets enough attention. Some retired to sleep under the thick blankets. I was in no mood to rest, decided to capture as many unique shots as I can.

William and I were sharing a tent, so we had some great conversations before we got the first call for dinner, the dinner was pleasant and it felt like I was having a wholesome meal after a lifetime now. Dal, alu-gobi, chaval, roti, egg masala was on the menu. Had a very light dinner. Came back to our designated tent, the lights went off by 22:00 Hrs. So in the dark one had no choice, William managed with a head lamp to click some pictures of the serene sky & stars. It felt as if stars have descended on earth that night. Our conversations continued till 23:00 hrs, before there was a lasting silence. Suddenly in the mid of the night started feeling very very nauseating, got up realized the entire tent is smelling petrol and the tent canvas door was totally open with breeze blowing in making it difficult to breathe. This night’s rest was very important to me. William couldn’t sleep, as he woke up before me to open the cover of the tent so that the smell of petrol subsides. But it was not and that’s no rocket science at that altitude. I don’t know what time, but yes finally went to sleep.

DAY 7: Sarchu to Rumtse

Got up at around 7:30. Was having a very bad cold and all night’s breeze had made my lungs and head heavy. Finally got ready and checked the status of others around. Almost all of them were sick and or fast asleep, I checked with the lead biker about the plan, and he would need one more day’s rest. Most of the guys that day were planning to stay put in the tents for the entire day & night. I did not want to spend so much time at such altitude; secondly I was not well. I decided to make my move. I informed the guys that I would see them on their way.

9 AM I began riding, the light music made me feel better. I had a great mix of music just for this trip to suit all moods, soft, romantic, rock, metal, inspirational, spiritual, devotional…. I can go on. After riding for about 10 mins, began climbing the circuitous 21 hairpin bends known as GATA loops, which would eventually elevate me from valley floor to a height of 16,616 ft to the second pass LACHULUNGLA. On my way here I saw a short cut to bypass couple of kms, I tried riding the uphill full throttle, but to my SHOCK the bike was not upto it, I was sliding back and finally I had to leave the bike on the ground, waited to sum up all my energy to pick up the 138 kg monster not to forget the baggage added another 30-35kgs. To lift a bike and go back downhill slowly was quite a task at that altitude, where even walking couple of steps is like a sprint. Some learn the lessons the hard way so did I, there are no shortcuts to life. The roads were good and the pass was deserted except a small SHIVA temple, me and a cyclist, I only heard but this time I saw a firangi cycling on these peaks, no wonder travelers around the world go crazy when they land here. I could see some tents down there from the pass, so wanted to just reach there and rest for a while. The ride didn’t seem to end and was feeling dizzy again, how much more can my body take? I felt I was pushing myself too hard, I was running short of Oxygen and breathing was getting heavier by minute. The only way to get more oxygen is to keep drinking hot water at regular intervals, finally reached PANG; at 15640 Ft. this is world’s highest transit camp. Here I just crashed onto the chair, almost unconscious, didn’t want to get up at all, one of locals asked me to get into the army transit camp for immediate medical assistance. Rushed to the medical camp, got in, first things first the designated doctor asked me to drink 2-3 glasses of warm water. Gave me pills and asked me to rest on the bed. It was getting late so had to start, the doctor advised me to have water at regular intervals. There was a huge queue of callers at the camp; waited for my turn, called home and told parents that my next update will be after two days.

16:30 Hrs. The army guys recommended to take it easy for the day as my chances of reaching Rumtse before dusk were bleak. However, resting at such a high altitude without acclimatizing is inviting trouble. So decided to ride ahead, in terms of scenic beauty this was a breath taking ride. You will agree if you check out the snaps. But the ride was real tough; the music was the only company. This was truly the test of character for me now; I was getting desperate to see some landmark. I totally gave up on my senses and was at a point where I was truly helpless, I could neither ride as my body was aching and nor rest as there was not even a convenient place.

This was the toughest ride of my life considering all the conditions. I really was desperate to see a mortal soul. Not even a bird around. This was the truly the time where nothing was more important than just going back home. When all the energy and enthusiasm seem to die you give into GOD. I did just that. I was just praying that I reach Sarchu ASAP. I was chanting Mruthyunjaya Mantra most of the ride. It was as if some cosmic force was riding me through. Reached Tanglangla, world’s 2nd highest motorable pass at 17582 ft. This pass was deserted but for a BABA MANDIR (TEMPLE). From here on Rumtse is around 42 kms, was a downhill ride. The desperation and the helplessness finally ended when I saw some camps and people. I was at peace with myself finally. Got a place to stay which was more like home as Sarchu doesn’t have any rented camps. That night had a very light dinner and went to bed early as the body was battered and bruised and so was the mind.

DAY 8: Rumtse to Leh: 70kms

Got up at 9 AM. Went to the Army medical camp at Rumtse and was supplied some oxygen. That felt better. The rest of the ride was cool with no more altitudes to climb. In fact the ride was just about 70 kms, roads were awesome, stopped on my way at UPSHI for lunch, and had some Chinese for a change. My mobile phone signals were up by now. Reached Leh at around 14:30. Checked into the hotel and got my bike washed and serviced. Had a terrific hot shower after almost 3 days. The body was craving for rest. The final frontier was yet to be conquered; Khardungla 37 kms from Leh. Had a decent meal and crashed on the bed.

Needed to acclimatize here for a while as the body was still recovering. Today we were busy getting the paper work done for Khardungla. Had to also book my return flight Leh-Delhi-Mumbai. Another day’s rest.

DAY 9: Leh to Khardungla: 37Kms

Started early at about 8 AM, the final frontier is just 37 kms away and that road to me was a 3 hrs ride one-way. The ride was just out of the world experience, it felt like we were riding into the laps of the sky. You must take a look at the snaps to know what I am talking about. Every minute on this ride was worth it. Finally when we reached Khardungla it was like Mission Complete. How satisfied one feel’s when the desire, the dream turns to reality inspite of all odds. That’s exactly what I felt too. It was like conquering the mind, body and soul. All in SYNC. What a feeling it is, I guess I can’t put all of them in words.

Fighting hypoxia (inability to think clearly at such high altitudes) most of the trip was like a fight between the heart and body…finally I sign off my travel log for this trip which will last forever in my heart……. My next mission is virtually an impossible one… hope someday I will be upto it too… They say that the same state can be achieved from within without actually traveling; well that’s sainthood for me…. And I am no saint yet…..

DOES GOD HAVE AN ADDRESS? DOES HE STAY IN A TEMPLE, A MOSQUE, A CHURCH, A SYNAGOGUE? CAN HE BE FOUND IN A PRAYER, IN AN AZAAN, IN THE CHANTS, ON A GHAAT?
THE WISE HAVE TRAVELLED AND FOUND HIM IN THEIR HEARTS.

Until next adventure, Hasta la vista…adios. See you later

Really Fascinating: A must read for all

2007-09-12T08:31:00.000+05:30

I guess most of you might have read this article on the net....since its pretty old one....but i am re-publishing it on my blog for those who missed it: Its worth reading once....dont miss it . I should thank my friend narayan for sending this to me

For those who would like to see the recorded video.....here's the link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Different Drummers

2007-08-01T10:49:00.000+05:30

Few days back I attended a training on "Art of Self Management". The course material has following impressive article, which I feel is very much relevant our personal and professional life. I always tend to search myself in the other person, rather than appreciating what he or she is. This article was a great learning experience for me.

If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me my want is wrong.

Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or, weakly.

Or yet, if I act or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action let me be.

I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up shaping me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, you parent, you offspring, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right - for me.

To put up with me is the first step to understand me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me, you might come to prize my differences from you, and far from seeking to change me, preserve me and even nurture those differences.

Environmental benefits of Vegetarianism

2007-07-29T11:33:00.000+05:30

Last evening I was watching Dicsovery Channel at home. I was so engrossed in the article on environmental & ecosystem imbalance which we are causing by non-vegetarian diet. I thought of researching and writing my next article on this topic. My intentions are not to preach a vegetarian diet, but just to leave a thought in our inner conscious. Lets make own conscious contribution towards environmental balance. Firstly, I personally think we owe this to our mother earth and secondly, it would definitely make this world a better place to live. Happy blogging........please feel free to post your comments......

The production of meat and animal products at current and likely future levels is often considered as environmentally and ecologically unsustainable. It is also argued that even if sustainable, modern industrial agriculture is changing ecosystems faster than they can adapt. While vegetarian agriculture produces some of the same problems as animal production, the environmental impact of animal production is significantly greater.Environmental vegetarians can be compared with economic vegetarians, who consider the meat industry economically unsound, and both citing the same efficiency concerns, many vegetarians see natural resources as being freed up by vegetarianism and veganism. These in turn can be contrasted with moral vegetarians, who see the eating of meat (and other animal products, in the case of vegans) as morally wrong.

"The cost of mass-producing cattle, poultry, pigs, sheep and fish to feed our growing population... include highly inefficient use of freshwater and land, heavy pollution from livestock feces... and spreading destruction of the forests on which much of our planet's life depends."

1. Water resources : Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource in many parts of the world. Overuse by humans is damaging to rivers and ecosystems and leads to salinity and desertification. A vegetarian diet uses considerably less water than a meat based diet. This is because to produce meat, water must be used in the production of feed for animals, which must be fed to the animals during their entire life. The loss of water (and energy) between trophic levels is very large. When the grains go directly to humans this inefficiency is avoided. As an illustration, the water needed to produce a pound of wheat in the USA is 14 gallons whereas the water needed to produce a pound of beef is 441 gallons. More than half of the water use for all purposes in the USA is used for livestock production.

For reasons of inefficiency similar to that of water consumption, animal protein demands far greater expenditures of fossil fuel energy — eight times as much for a comparable amount of plant protein. This is wasteful of non-renewable fossil fuels and produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

Animal production also creates damaging animal waste. In the United States, livestock account for nearly 20% of total methane emissions. One ton of methane has the global warming potential of 23 tons of carbon dioxide. Substituting meat products with protein containing alternatives such as soy or beans would greatly reduce the amount of land, water and energy needed to feed a population.

2. Grazing and Land use : Factory farm animal production, while having a smaller land-use footprint, still requires large quantities of feed that must be grown over large areas of land. Mass free-range animal production requires land for grazing, which has prompted encroachment on undeveloped lands and clear cutting. The move into wild lands has increased the rate of species extinction and damaged the services offered by nature, such as the natural processing of pollutants. Over-grazed lands, especially in semi-arid regions lose their ability to support animal production due to rapid topsoil erosion and desertification because of the trampling hoofs of animals at unusual concentrations on the land. This makes further agricultural expansion necessary. According to the United Nations, ranching-induced deforestation is one of the main reasons for the loss of plant and animal species in tropical rainforests.

3. Trawling : Trawling is similarly destructive to sea ecosystems, removing around 5-25% of an area's seabed life on a single run, although if conducted only at low levels and well managed it can be a sustainable practice. Overfishing has been widely reported because of increases in the volume of fishing hauls to feed a quickly growing number of consumers. This has led to the breakdown of some sea ecosystems and several fishing industries whose catch has been greatly diminished. The extinction of many species has also been reported. According to a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimate, over 70% of the world’s fish species are either fully exploited or depleted.

“Overfishing cannot continue, the depletion of fisheries poses a major threat to the food supply of millions of people.” - Nitin Desai, Secretary General of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development

4. Petroleum: Petroleum is one of the resources freed up for other usage by a vegetarian diet: Within the Pulitzer-winning book by John Robbins, "Diet for a New America," which uses data primarily sourced from the world's largest body of scientists, AAAS, Robbins explains how the petroleum used in the transportation of farm-animals, the later processing of them, and the raising and harvesting of the vast amount of crops fed to farm-animals (which is much greater than the amount of crops people would need if we were to eat the crops directly, rather than feeding them to animals, then eating the animals), adds up to greatly increase the amount of petroleum used. So, if more people adopt a vegan diet, not only is more food available, but more petroleum to deliver that food is.

World hunger

Many believe that if everyone followed a vegetarian diet, thus freeing up resources that would be used in meat production, we would be many steps closer to eliminating world hunger. A popular saying is that even with more food, the problem is transporting all of that food to the starving people. The petroleum freed up by a vegetarian diet as shown above may answer that dilemma.

Critics of this view may observe that the root causes of world hunger are often traceable to harmful political structures rather than genuine resource shortages. Moreover in developing countries where hunger is more common, animals bred for meat are seldom fed food that is consumed by human beings; instead they are often free ranging cattle or goats or chicken that simply eat grass and other food stuff that is thrown away by people. The exact extent to which animals are free ranging against domesticated is not known, but there is no doubt that the trend is towards increased domestication, with only a small proportion of meat consumed coming from wild animals.

Match Drawn at last

2007-07-23T22:38:00.000+05:30

Guys with great difficulty our indian team saved the first test.well lets thank the god Indra for that.....just bad light though ...no rain.....will post my next article pretty sooon.....till then keep bloggin.....

Homesourcing: An Amazing story about JetBlue Airlines

2007-07-19T22:52:00.000+05:30

Jetblue's David Neeleman first started homesourcing at Morris Air, his first venture in the airline business. (It was bought by Southwest.) Morris air had 250 people in their homes doing reservations. "They were 30 percent more productive-they take 30 percent more bookings, by just being happier. They were more loyal and there was less attrition. So when I started JetBlue, We decided we are going to have 100 percent reservation at home", he said.

Neeleman has a personal reason for wanting to do this. He is a Mormon and believes that society will be better off if more mothers are able to stay at home with their young children but are given a chance to be wage earners at the same time. So he based his home reservations system in Salt Lake City, where the vast majority of the women are Mormons and many are stay-at-home mothers. Home reservationists work twenty-five hours a week and have to come into the JetBlue regional office in Salt Lake City for four hours a month to learn new skills and be brought up to date on what is going on inside the company.

"We will never outsource to India' said Neeleman. "The quality we can get here is far superior. Employers are more willing to outsource to India than to their own homes, and I can't understand that. Somehow they think that people need to be sitting in front of them or some boss they have designated. The productivity we get here more than makes up for the India [wage] factor."

A Los Angeles Times story about JetBlue (May 9, 2004) noted that "in 1997, 11.6 million employees of U.S. companies worked from home at least part of the time. Today, that number has soared to 23.5 million-16% of the American labor force. (Meanwhile, the ranks of the self-employed, who often work from home, have swelled during the same period-to 23.4 million from 18 million.) In some eyes, homesourcing and outsourcing aren't so much competing strategies as they are different manifestations of the same thing: a relentless push by corporate America to lower costs and increase efficiency, wherever that may lead."

The Battle Against Corruption

2007-07-16T14:27:00.000+05:30

I chanced upon this article in the International Herald Tribune, which details an anti corruption effort in the state of Karnataka.
This is remarkable on many levels. One, it harnesses the power of the internet and the blogosphere, to reach out to as many people as possible. Two, and equally importantly, it helps give a voice to the honest section of the bureaucracy, and throws light on the deep rooted corruption prevalent there, which tends to slip through the cracks, as the focus remains on the politicians.
According to the IHT article, this blog was also inspired by the belief that if the effort was more public, it would prevent a Satyendra Dubey/Manjunath style killing. It seems a bit like wishful thinking to me, but this is really path breaking stuff nevertheless.

The much hyped Indian Story

2007-07-16T10:59:00.000+05:30

Let's now discuss a little about the hyped indian story. let’s look at it from the root level. If you are believing the comments on the Indian story, it is mainly driven by the middle class salary rise. All are aware that this rise is mainly constituted by the IT sector – how long can people in Indian IT sector keep their jobs?

Already, companies like British Energy have scrapped their BPO operations in India and taken back the work to their own country. How long will the Indian story continue, no one knows. Even Indian companies like Infy, Wipro, Satyam have opened up offices in China, Russia, Romania, Czech Republic, Canada, Philippines, Thailand, etc. If the work can be outsourced to India, it can as well be taken away to another country. It took only 2 years for outsourcing to become a buzz word; it may take much less than that for the work to be taken away. At that point of time, there will be no rising salaries, no spending power, no extra money, and hence no demand and affordability for new houses or cars or visits to shopping malls. When will it happen, no one knows, but if it happens, things will come done tumbling.

The great Indian IT engineers proudly submit their pay slips, take house loans, car loans for big amount – completely missing the crux of the point that everything is dependent on their salary, which comes from a HIGHLY RISKY job. If they loose the job, they loose their salary, they loose their house, car, everything. You talk about boom in real estate, or boom in the retail market, or hike in car/bike sales, all coming from the extra spending power from the emerging middle class-which is driven by the software salaries.

Sometimes I wonder what other job a IT engineer can take up if unfortunately he looses his job. Everyone is relying on the Indian Story, mainly dependent on the foreign money from IT industry – how long it will continue, only time will tell. Rupee-Dollar rate has already hit the IT sector, same is being reflected in other sectors as well. We’ve already seen the slowdown in Indian IT sector in 2000 to 2002 period; still people don’t realize the ground realities. It’s a risky job and a risky Indian story, plan your future properly and especially your finances.

Please feel free to post your comments. Let me know how many defer on this argument.

Bone of Contention: The coming collapse of the US dollar

2007-07-13T11:33:00.000+05:30

The skew in the global financial system -- commonly called 'global imbalance' -- seems to be fast spiralling out of control.

For some time now economists have been engaged in the mother of all debates: whether the US dollar would collapse by as much as 40% when compared to other currencies (some are even betting on the US dollar going belly-up) or whether there would be an orderly devaluation -- that is, a gradual revaluation of other currencies vis-a-vis the US dollar.

In effect, the question that is confronting us is not 'whether' but 'when' and by 'how much.'

This global imbalance can be understood in economic terms by simply examining the massive size of America's twin deficits -- trade and budgetary. Put modestly, Americans have been living way beyond their means, consuming much more than what they could possibly afford and, in the process, borrowing far beyond their capacity for too long.

This was facilitated by a policy of maintaining weak currencies across the world, notably in Asia. This policy of maintaining a competitive exchange rate for their currency to boost exports has resulted in a race to the bottom amongst various countries.

Nevertheless, this arrangement suited countries, both Asian (with a huge unemployed population) and American, (as it provided cheap imports for its huge consumption binge).

While the going was good, everyone profited and expected the arrangement to continue indefinitely. Unfortunately, linearity as a concept has limited appeal in real life, much less is global macroeconomics.

No wonder, of late, countries are discovering that this arrangement has its limitations. The current account deficit of the United States translates into current account surplus of exporting countries. To cover this deficit, US borrows: this corresponds to the forex reserves of exporting countries. The crux of the issue is that no other country, barring the US, has such a huge consumption pattern and an ability to absorb this huge export surplus.

In substance, countries are producing their goods, exporting it mostly to the US, and parking the resulting export surpluses with the US to facilitate US to finance its imports!

Clearly, the global imbalance is a by-product of this mindless competition by various countries to devalue their own currencies and the reckless consumption in US. Naturally, it is indeed tempting to blame US consumption for this crisis. However, one must hasten to add that the emerging economies -- notably Asian countries, especially after the1998 currency crisis -- with their fixation for weak currencies, are equally to be blamed.

The net result? Well, consider these facts:

By mid-May 2007, the US National Debt stood at approximately at mind-boggling $8.85 trillion -- i.e. approximately $28,000 for every American.

The basic structure of the American economy is that the deficit of the US government is 4% of the GDP and the household sector 6%, which are offset by a domestic savings of 3%, largely from corporates, leaving a substantial national deficit of 7% to be covered by the capital flows from the rest of the world.

The current account deficit of the United States for 2006 is estimated to be in excess of $850 billion. This approximates to 7% of its GDP. Surely, even for the US, this is unsustainable.
In order to ensure that this money is routed into America and to sustain its gargantuan borrowing programme, the US has repeatedly raised its interest rate to its current levels of 5.5%. While the very size of the US debt makes any further increase in interest rates virtually impossible (as it would make borrowings uneconomical), any cut in interest rates to stimulate its economy and make it competitive would mean that the US may not get the money it requires to sustain itself.

On March 28, 2006, the Asian Development Bank is reported to have issued a memo, advising members to be ready for a collapse of the US dollar.

Since end March 2006, the US Federal Reserve has stopped publishing the quantum of broad money (that is the aggregate of US dollars circulating in the entire world -- technically called 'M3') in the US economy. This is the worst possible signal that the US Federal Reserve could have sent to the world.

Suspended sense of disbelief

Obviously, what aids and sustains the US dollar is a 'suspended sense of disbelief' amongst countries about the value of US dollar. Yet, common sense tells us that the excess supply will obviously result in a fall in the value of any product. The US dollar is no exception.

Late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was fully aware of this paradigm. Seeking to exploit the inherent weakness of the US dollar, Saddam wanted to trade his crude in Euros, which would have lead to a lower demand for the US Dollar and thereby triggered a dollar collapse. And those were his 'weapons of mass destruction -- WMD.'

And if some analysts are to be believed, Venezuela and Iran too possess the very same WMD. Naturally, it requires some specious arguments and military intervention to protect the US dollar. Never in the history of mankind has a national army protected the national currency so vigorously as the US Army has done is the past decade or so.

What is bizarre to note here is that despite the fact that crude is produced mainly in the Middle East; officially it can be purchased in dollar terms from one of the two oil exchanges situated in New York and London. Obviously, should Iran carry out the threat to commence oil trade in Euros or better still an oil exchange, the US dollar would come under tremendous pressure.

The US dollar is akin to the promissory note of a defunct finance company. It is common knowledge that a currency, when not backed by anything precious is just a piece of paper. When US abandoned the Gold Standard in early 70s, countries habituated by then to the US dollar under the Bretton Woods arrangement continued to accept the US dollar as an international currency without demur as the world was not prepared for any other alternative. Else, the global economy would have collapsed by 1971.

But the diplomatic silence did not solve the problem. It merely postponed it and it has come back to haunt us.

Post gold standard, by a tacit approval of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and strategic manoeuvring, the US had ensured that its currency is implicitly backed by crude, instead of gold. This explains the American 'geo-political and strategic interests' in the Middle East.

But over time even this was found to be insufficient and consequently the oil standard of the 70s gave way to an implicit multiple commodity standard of today. Naturally, commodity prices -- including crude prices -- have soared in the past few years. Unfortunately, this arrangement too is failing the US. No wonder, the US dollar increasingly resembles a promisory note of a defunct finance company.

It is no coincidence that global trade in most commodities, including oil, is denominated in US dollars as the respective international exchanges are located in the US. To what extent are the prices of these commodities manipulated to protect the US dollar is anybody's guess.

However, it may not be out of place to mention that a barrel of oil which cost less than $10 to produce is sold approximately at $70 in the international market.

But as commodity prices go up it has lead to inflation across the globe. No wonder, countries are forced to increase their interest rates to fight inflation.

This has triggered an interest rate hike across continents and the US is finding it extremely difficult to sustain its current borrowing programme: it hardly has any elbow room to manoeuvre.

Doomed if it does, damned if it doesn't

Meanwhile, countries are increasingly realizing that the value of the US dollar that they are holding is fast eroding, whatever be the 'officially managed exchange rate.' And if fewer people want the US dollar -- as for instance when oil is traded in Euro the demand for the US dollar will fall -- it would trigger an avalanche.

No wonder, the US Fed is unwilling to make public the M3 figures, as it does not want the holding position of the US dollar to be publicised.

Interestingly, in such a doomsday scenario, some economists are still betting on central banks of other countries to defend the US dollar. It would seem that the US has 'outsourced' even this sovereign function to the central banks of other countries. After all, should the US dollar collapse, the biggest losers will not be the US but those who have US dollar-denominated forex reserves.

Naturally, countries holding US dollar reserves are caught on the horns of a serious dilemma -- should they seek to correct the global imbalance, it could result in the imminent collapse of the US dollar, and should they continue to defend the US dollar, they would be a long-term loser as the current arrangement has seeds of self-destruction.

While every central banker is conscious of this fact and thereby seeks to postpone the inevitable while nervously looking for his counterpart in any other country to break ranks and thereby trigger the collapse.

Surely, the emperor is without any clothes. There are only two possibilities from here on: Either we are witness a global meltdown of the US dollar, or allow controlled US dollar devaluation (read, revaluation of other currencies). If it is a global meltdown the global economy is doomed, if is an orderly devaluation, it is damned.

Let's Start with Humor: World's Best Resignation Letter

2007-07-13T10:42:00.000+05:30

Dear Mr. Baker,

As an employee of an institution of higher education, I have few very basic expectations. Chief among these is that my direct superiors have an intellect that ranges above the common ground squirrel. After your consistent and annoying harassment of my co-workers and me during our commission of duties, I can only surmise that you are one of the few true genetic wastes of our time.

Asking me, a network administrator, to explain every nuance of everything I do each time you happen to stroll into my office is not only a waste of time, but also a waste of precious oxygen. I was hired because I know how to network computer systems, and you were apparently hired to provide amusement to your employees, who watch you vainly attempt to understand the concept of "cut and paste" as it is explained to you for the hundredth time.

You will never understand computers. Something as incredibly simple as binary still gives you too many options. You will also never understand why people hate you, but I am going to try and explain it to you, even though I am sure this will be just as effective as telling you what an IP is. Your shiny new iMac has more personality than you ever will.

You wander around the building all day, shiftlessly seeking fault in others. You have a sharp dressed, useless look about you that may have worked for your interview, but now that you actually have responsibility, you pawn it off on overworked staff, hoping their talent will cover for your glaring ineptitude. In a world of managerial evolution, you are the blue-green algae that everyone else eats and laughs at. Managers like you are a sad proof of the Dilbert principle(google it).

Seeing as this situation is unlikely to change without you getting a full frontal lobotomy reversal, I am forced to tender my resignation; however, I have a few parting thoughts:

1. When someone calls you in reference to employment, it is illegal for you to give me a bad recommendation as I have consisted performed my duties and even more. The most you can say to hurt me is, "I prefer not to comment." To keep you honest, I will have friends randomly call you over the next couple of years, because I know you would be unable to do it on your own.

2. I have all the passwords to every account on the system and I know every password you have used for the last five years. If you decide to get cute, I will publish your "Favorites," which I conveniently saved when you made me "back up" your useless files. I do believe that terms like "Lolita" are not viewed favorably by the university administrations.

3. When you borrowed the digital camera to "take pictures of your mother's b-day," you neglected to mention that you were going to take nude pictures of yourself in the mirror. Then, like the techno-moron you are, you forgot to erase them. Suffice it to say, I have never seen such odd acts with a ketchup bottle. I assure you that those photos are being kept in safe places pending your authoring of a glowing letter of recommendation. (And, for once, would you please try to use spellcheck? I hate correcting your mistakes.)

I expect the letter of recommendation on my desk by 8:00 am tomorrow. One word of this to anybody and all of your twisted little repugnant obsessions will become public knowledge. Never f*ck with your systems administrator, Mr. Baker! They know what you do with all that free time!

Sincerely,
David Blocker
Network Administrator