First Time : Visit to Gurudwara

This was a long overdue visit to Gurudwara. I have always held the Sikh religion in very high esteem and my wife always wanted a visit to the Gurudwara. We had planned this many times in India , in-fact we wanted to make a tour to Amritsar. I love the fact that persons of any religion can go to this place of worship , and I am also impressed an the  volunteering services that many people do here . You can volunteer to wash the dishes, make the rotis for the kitchen

The Visit happened on 22 Oct 2011 , Saturday , The place was easy to find and really looks majestic from down below

The environment was serene ( Note I am really not a temple guy ) and we did love every moment spend there.

And then the lunch ! We were served huge portions of everything ( All Gurudwaras(?) have a community lunch concept where all visitors can have a fulfilling lunch) There were other people around peacefully sitting in  the langar

Links :

http://sanjosegurdwara.com

The Other Side of Israel-my take

Title : The Other Side of Israel
Author :Susan Nathan


One of my first purchases in US ....Ordered on Amazon. I had always wanted to read on Israel-Palestine conflict , but the huge academic nature of books kept me away.
This was definitely different.
The author - a Jew raised  In UK -- goes to Israel to 'settle down' and is shocked and disappointed at the way Israel functions and discriminates against non-Jews.
The author's first hand experience does help and I am definitely a fan of easy reading.
I personally never understood and appreciated  the idea of a state for a religion ....and this book does reinforce my belief.


A MUST read .
There are many new books and publications on the same topic , and I intend catch up on them !!


Not sure if US and other countries will  take a stand -- But Obama did propose a return to 1968 (?) - pre-occupation borders recently.

The Visa Interview

Went to New Delhi for the H1 interview with wife.Went quite smooth , though had a scare since saw two rejections just before me ..
Questions asked 
  1. Where are you going ? - this was asked to my wife.
  2.  Why are you going ? Job desc ?
  3.  How long are you in IBM ?
  4.  What is your designation IBM ?
All in all a cool experience , :-)
Need to collect the passport tommo from VFS .

The Bhutto Murder Trail - a review

Name of The Book : The Bhutto Murder Trail From Waziristan to GHQ
Author : Amir Mir
Publisher : Tranqebar
ISBN :9789380658612
my rating : 3/10


Actually , the book was picked up by my wife from indiaplaza.in and they did deliver in time and at a good discount .( must add I am seeing delays from the same place for a different book)
Picked it up with lots of expectations and book does attempt to 'uncover' some mysteries...it  talks about the controversies about the actual cause of death , the Govt view , the media , the PPP's .....and the reasons behind these views. 
Benazir's courage and conviction on the face of threats is wow. Not sure how such people keep themselves driven ...
The power of 'establishment' is clearly mentioned here and the helplessness of the various democratically elected governments. Infact there have not been any concrete progress wven with PPP in power
But after a point the author gets repetitive and no new information seems to come out.
All in all : I would think there are more investigative books on the topic ( yet to check any one ) if readers of this know of any nice books on the topic please let me know


And now -- Todays paper says India to invite Pak army chief, and members of ISI for the watching the Indo-Pak quarterfinal match in Mohali. Makes sense? 

Great Ocean Road 26 Jan 2011

Sydney - 22 Jan 2011

As the Australian trip was coming to an end we planned a quick hurried trip to Sydney .....it was definitely worth it !!


Loved the Cruise , loved the sight of Opera House and loved the concept of Hop-on Hop-Off sightseeing.

On the Cruise -- !!

The hopon Hopoff allows for multiple trips on the cruise and ofcourse we did multiple trips and loved every minute of it.
There are many cruises available , the one that comes packaged with the deal is from circular Quay to/from Manly beach

Monorail in Sydney --- Watch the Incredible India ad !

The monorail is a an interesting exp ,  a short trip, interesting ticketing feature and passes so close to the buildings ! And ofcourse you can see a bit India being advertised there !!

The Opera House ..

And the Harbour Bridge ... for a few (?) extra bucks you can actually go up the bridge ....it is a guided trip and takes 3/4 hrs ....

Travel and Stay details :

Melbourne to Sydney by Train ...this is a Over night journey and you reach Sydney early morning

Stay : Back Packers at King's Cross

Primary Travel at Sydney :  Hop-on Hop-Off Sightseeing 

Total Budget for 2 : AUD 500

Cleland Wildlife Park - 8th Jan 2011

A trip to remember ! Ofcourse any trip to Australia is not  complete without seeing the Kangaroos and the Emus. And we did all that and more on 9th Jan 2011.

Took the bus from Adelaide to Cleland Wild Park around 1230 and returned via the 1630 bus.

You can not only see the animals - you can touch them and feed them -- not from behind a gate or fence - but sitting with them , running with them !!

We fed then Kangaroos , the Emus and the many birds there.
Took snaps with the sole awake Koala ! ( there was a photo session with the caretaker facilitating it)

And on our return back - ate the best two cherries of my life - offered by a sweet lady at the bus stop !. She just wanted to share - amazing people !!