Nilesh Vasave

Maa bharati re...

2009-10-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Baahe failaye.. kab se khadi aarati liye,
Ek tu kadam badhaye, ek main..
Raah dekh rahi Maa bharati re...

Tu pahele, main pahele...
Tera dharam, mera dharam...

Tu zutha, main saccha..
Koi na chhode apana bharam..

Bharam ek tuta abhi,
Maa baithi aasu saarati re!!

Mandir loota, masjit toota..
Chaahe tu jeeta, yaa main jeeta...

Haari hamesha....
Maa bharati re...

Sharepoint and Accessibility

2009-06-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on Accessibility in SharePoint which I find very interesting area of SharePoint considering the fact that out of the box sharepoint is not really Accessibility compliant. Currently I have published an article on sharePoint and Accessibility on my professional blog ecmlounge.

Please visit my blog ecmlounge to read more...

२० सोंग्स तो लिस्टें बेफोरे यू डाय

2008-08-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

I read couple of reviews under this section and found out that most of them are talking about same bands, even same songs! Looks like English music scene in India is just frozen! It's the same songs which my dad liked and then I liked 15 years ago and now the new collage kids likes.. Talking about "Another brick in the wall" ;-). Well on that note, I have decided to put my 2 paisa in this subject, as have travelled around quite a bit and listened to different types of music during my stays at different places. I just want to introduce to you some of the great songs and singers I've listened so far..

1. Your Body is Wonderland By John Mayer
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJNE31Ndme0)
An amazing love song by John Mayer, I love John Mayer's all the albums and almost all the songs from his albums, clearly today's best guitar based singer.

2. Upside Down By Jack Johnson
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNlmn7vbXBQ)
Amazing song about hope and innocence, Jack Johnson is my favourite Beach Singer[!!].. just see his videos and you will know what I mean and also the fact is that he was a pro surfer.. The best wake up song..

3. Out of my head by Fastball
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd2aeZhu9xY)
One of my all time favourite songs since long, amazingly bitter and sarcasm in the song.

4. No Rain by Blind Melon
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmVn6b7DdpA)
Another one of my alltime favourite songs, amazing lyrics and video.

5. Big yellow taxi by Counting Crows
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsPh_8Dxl3E)
Amazing song, with universal appeal, the voice of counting crow is one of the best I've heard.

6. Sunrise by Norah Jones
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6sE1L2laCc)
My good morning song, anyday anytime, makes me feel like it's morning again...

7. New York City by Norah Jones
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7STRwujTZ7U)
Surprisingly very little known Song from the grammy winner and daughter of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Norah Jones. Amazing song about New York City, amazing voice and mood in the song, listen it in the evening or whenever you are in New York, you will feel strange emotions in your heart, one of the best Jazz songs I've ever heard.

7. Ride Wit Me by Nelly
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AsYMAV_vLw)
I just love Nelly and the fun way he sings his songs, this one is the first one I've ever heard and fell in love instantly... One of the best road trip songs..

8. Without Me by Eminem
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keU5TQ7nkuM)
The best fun party song, if you are in a night club or a pub or in party at friends, this song can make you laugh at the same times dance :-)

9. Complicated By Averil Lavign
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGXYAJoDWCk&feature=related)
First hit from Averil Lavigne, Amazing lyrics, energy and fun song..

10. My Father's Eyes by Eric Clapton
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Or-NEc-O4)
This song made me cry and I missed my father when I was in Microsoft Seminar. Amazing lyrics, guitar pieces and heavenly voice of Eric Clapton, everything is right for this song.

11. Dancing with my Father by Luther Vandross
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZPDofY_wY8)
Real eye watering song, if you love your dad [or not], just listen to it and I will guarantee you will run back to him and will tell him how you love him and miss him. Give it a try.

12. In the end by Linkin Park
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZp2jAdBu1o)
One of my rebel songs, whenever I feel like F**k the world moment, I listen to this song.. great punk rock song of our time.

13 Where is the love? by Black Eyed Peas
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJpyskHMwRs)
If music can unite the world and make people think about their action or motivate them to act towards world peace, this is it. It's our time's Imagine [by John Lennon]. This is closest you get to gandhiji's vision of non-violence in today's world.

14.Clint Eastwood by Gorrilaz
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsvtoJfKxrs)
When I am down and want to sing to the world that the future is mine.. I will be humming first few lines of this song...

15. Take me home [country roads] by John Denver
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC8nDdPM_Qk)
Ask any person who is away from his mother land, which song reminds him/her about his country the most.. and 9 out of 10 will say Take me home [country roads]. All time great "Pardesi" angrezzee song.. :-)

16. Burn by Usher
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLkWtC2Z8Q)
Well, this might be an odd choice, but I wanted to tell you that User is one of the great showman of today's world, I don't know if you heard his songs or not, but they are really catchy and the guy is amazing dancer and performer.

17. Rockstar by Nickelback
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmeUuoxyt_E)
This is one of the new songs, I fell in love with when I first heard and the video is also really fun to watch.. for all the Rockstar wanna bes and the dreamers who wants to concur the world, here is the song for you!!

18. Any Lucky Penny by Nikki Hassman
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Dds_RodDk)
Love song can't be better than this.. the ultimate love song, Just the fullstop of love song. Your search for the best of the best of the best of the best love song, ends here.. and surprisingly, nobody knows about it!!

19. Diamonds on the inside - Ben Harper
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gpGv0gG9fk)
If you haven't heard Ben Harper, live or in CD then you have missed out one of the biggest musical pleasures in the life. One of his finest songs but no means only, he has loads and loads of them to chose from like one of my other favourites "steal my kisses" or sexual healing... great, great singer of our times.

20.Waiting on the world to change
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPOBMzMTP4U)
Another one of John Mayer's best.. Just for the people who are in the transit phase :-) Just a gem.

Hope you liked my compilation of 20 english songs to hear b4 u Die!

सिंघ इस किंग इस मिराक्लेस इस अ पोच्केत्फुल ऑफ़ miracles

2008-08-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, The story and scenes are shameless copy of 1989 Jackie chan writed, acted and directed movie named "Miracles", which was also a variation of Frank Capra’s "A pocketful of Miracles".

Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong variation of Frank Capra’s "A Pocketful of Miracles" set in the 1930s. Jackie plays a country boy who rescues a gang boss. Jackie becomes the head of a gang through the purchase of some lucky roses from an old lady. Jackie and a singer at the gang’s nightclub try to do a good deed for the old rose-seller when her daughter comes to visit, all this while battling a rival gang. And this is a story of Singh is Kinng.

Enough about the "inspiration" part. Let’s talk about the movie, once you overlook this so called inspiration [or shameless copy], the movie is not that bad, it’s actually a good timepass.

Akshay Kumar [Happy] is a bachalor who lives in a same village Dharmendra is from [in reality], Happy always tries to help everybody but ending up creating chaos in people’s lives, so the villagers [Om puri, Guggi and Khayali] draws a plan where they send Happy to bring back Don called "King" who is originally from their village to visit King’s sick parents who are still staying in the village. So Akshay and Om puri setout to bring back King from Australia and accidently board a flight to Egypt where he meets Katrina before flying back to Australia. From here on the movie follows the exact same line as the Jackie Chan movie.

Here the gang boss is "King", the rose lady is played by Kirron Kher, the dauther and his fiance is played by Katrina Kaif [otherwise how Akshay will meet his heroine Katrina] and Ranbir. There is also Jaaved Jaafri as King’s partially blind and deaf brother, who is really funny and also Neha Dhupia, such a waste of great actress and hot body :-). There are still really funny moments in the movie though. Direction wise Anees Bazmee is becoming a new Priyadarshan..

The punjabi words sometimes are not understandable [ofcourse as I am not punjabi], but still the whole punjabi accent and the loudness is really cute and funny.

The music is nice but couple of songs were so loud, specially bass that the theatre speakers were destorting. The end song sung by Snoop Dogg was good.

Katrina and Akshay looked nice as always, Ompuri was doing justice to his role, Neha Dhupia was a wasting her talent in a no good role, other casts were just fillers.

Overall one time watch, and may be it will get repeat audience as it’s classed as a comedy with good music and you are not getting bored while watching the movie.

Plot Revealed In The Review: Revealed in detail
Best to watch with: Friends
Movie Genre: Comedy
Best part in the movie: Plot

सिक्यूरिटी ऑफ़ सिटिज़न्स ऑफ़ India. व्हो इस रेस्पोंसीबले?

2008-07-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Government or security agencies in India are not doing enough, nobody is taking any responsibility when ordinary citizens blown to the bits by the bombs... neither governments nor the security agencies!! The sufferers?? my family and yours! Politicians and celebrity [like MS Dhony] are safe behind their Z plus security, religious leaders and businessmen are secure behind their followers and security guards, police is secure just being police!! and Army is secured in their barracks and with their guns, is my family secure in anyways NO!! One bomb blast after another, people like you and me die in dozens but no arrests, no concrete leads, no justice... one standard response from authorities, Pakistan is behind it, ISI is behind it, HuJi is behind it, LeT is behind it, SIMI is behind it or Naxalites are behind it or LTTE is behind it.. but who is being prosecuted? how many, did it stop? America just had 1 terrorist attack 9/11, till today have you heard that anther terrorist attack has happened in US after that? They are blowing the whole country away in Iraq and Afghanistan, but did any militancy organisation had done even 1/100th of what the terrorists are doing in India?
It's time to get the answers of this question, A citizen of India's security is whose responsibility? Why aren't we like America, how dare anybody can kill my own country man, I didn't think before that I will say this, I like George Bush' policy, of fighting the terrorist in their own terretory [country], and keep them away from my home, If our oh, so capable security agency always knows [sometimes within half an hour of the attack!!] that it's LeT or HuJi or ISI why don't they stop them like America did, the way they stopped Taliban etc in their own backyard and dont let them come to my home and blow my family to bits..
I think it's not the time to think about it, it's time to DO something about it and ask questions to our governments and security agencies and get answers, no enquiry commissions or fake arrests... results and security for each and every citizen of the country and justice for all who died, hurt or lost their property or loved ones and punish the culprits...
I need my government answerable to me, otherwise there is no need for it, does it! I need my security agencies, police and intelligence agencies answerable, need somebody to take the responsibility of my and my family's security, if they are not capable then give me the guns and I will do it myself, in that case I don't need a government, a security agency, police or nobody to tell me how to protect my family... Let there be a jungle raaj.. I am up for it! Bring it on!

Mere baap, pahele aap "is heroine ko nikalo.."

2008-06-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

She reminded me of Sridevi [and Rajanikanth] two people I can remember who’s hindi is slightly funny, but her’s is not funny

at all, it’s irritating, so is her acting [where she is trying to be bubbly but end up being loud and irritating].. Atleast Sridevi and Rajanikanth are great actors, which nullify the effect of the language issues.

Apart from the heroine, the movie is quiet watchable.. funny even!

The plot revolves around the relationship between father [the legend Paresh Raval] and son [Akshey khanna]. Where father is always stuck with his romeo friend [Om puri] in odd situation involving girls and Lady ACP [Archana puran Singh], and son always end up saving them and lecturing the father about morals and how he is disgraced him and how he is ashamed of being son of a sleazy father [It actually is really funny as you will see the father/son relationship totally opposite of normal, where son is lacturing father about values, moral and how he [the father] is a disgrace to him due to his habit of chasing girls :-) ]... In the acting front Paresh Raval as always is a star and helarious, sometimes we feel sorry for him as it’s because of his friend [om puri] he is getting into all these troubles.. Akshey khanna is again good and has done his part faithfully.

Om puri has a small but filling role as 55 year old bachelor who keeps on looking for women for marriage and getting into trouble [and taking Paresh Raval with him].

One last comment on the dialog writer of Priyadarshan movies, Mate, It’s really getting annoying hearling all the derogatory remarks among the characters of the movie [just like after a while watching all pakistani dramas like "bakra kiston pe" you will feel irritated by all the derogatory remarks by the characters to the other characters] remarks like "abe bhais ki pucch" etc.. well after a while it’s not funny anymore... So an advice for next time, please create humour by writing genuinely funny dialogs rather than the derogatory remarks or calling names to the people, I know you have it in you [the script writer] as you have wrote really funny lines in many Priyadarshan movies, so next time try to refrain from calling names to people and create genuine humour.

All and all a fun movie to watch. Barring music and the heroine.

Sarkar Raj a Review

2008-06-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

When decided to watch this movie, didn’t had much expectation as Ramu’s previous mis-adventures were complete time wasters. But once the lights got dimmed and the screen came to life, I just drifted in the intense performances and tight storylines without any fat!!... That’s what Ramu is known for and somehow before this movie he has lost his grip on the film making, but with Sarkar Raj, Ramu is back and back with a bang!!

The story is also gripping, it started off where the first movie Sarkar ended, with Abhishake bacchan having cup of tea!! But as soon as you see him sitting there in the chair you instantly know that you are here for reallly good ride, with power packed performances from The Bacchans, pretty bahu Aish and all the baddies, but the main surprise is the guy who is the grandson of Rao Saab... The boy has a power and stroke of acting too.. Subtle performances from Raao Saab and the wife of Amitabh [Supriya pathak] and small role from Victor Banergee too.

This how an indiam novie should be made, cut out all the fat, just concentrate on story and the performances, be true to your story and audiences and the movie will be great. Not a single unnecessary shot or piece of music! And to top it all the suspense!! when you thought you have seen it all, the suspense will clean bold you!

All and all a great movie, one of the best from Ramu and worth every penny.. 5/5. A must watch!

Plot Revealed In The Review: Not revealed
Best to watch with: Friends
Movie Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Best part in the movie: Script

Latest Photos - London and Paris

2008-06-11T04:17:00.001-07:00

My Latest photo album..

Nilesh

Wear Football

2008-05-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

I have started this new shopping site for all the football fans, where you can buy T shirts, clothes of your favourite Football team, may it be manchester united, chelsea or your Brazil and Spain.

You can also buy, football kits, shoes, books and DVDs on the site. The URL for the site is:

www.wearfootball.com

Happy Shopping...

My Photos from Europe!

2008-05-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Breakfast at Sacre monte

Burmese Blogs - Support Burmese freedom fighters

2007-09-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
Burmese people are fighting for their freedom from the military rule. Thousands of people are protesting on the streets around Burma. Some brave people are fighting this war on the internet too. They are providing insiders view, footages, photos or writing to the rest of the world from the behind the military’s iron curtain. Please take sometime to boost their morale and support the cause by going to these brave people’s Blogs/websites and post some morale boosting comments.

It is not easy to get fresh information from Burma since foreign journalists are not welcome in the country and are also otherwise censorship imposed by the military rule. It is more dangerous for people to send the information out as people can get harsh jail terms or can get killed. There are some brave people who has started their blogs on the internet to let the world know about the situation in Burma. The Startupblogger and Robert basic have prepared this list of Burmese blogs:

http://www.ko-htike.blogspot.com (among other things English-language)
http://seinkhalote.blogspot.com
http://mr-jade.blogspot.com
http://www.burmagateway.org (English-language)
http://www.mizzima.com (English-language)
http://www.irrawaddy.org/protests/BurmaProtests.php#25-13 (English-language)
http://reporterdairy.blogspot.com
http://dathana.blogspot.com/ (partly on engl.)
http://mmedwatch.blogspot.com/

I also came across an article with mirror on-line one and Over Odenwald stories. This will clarify any doubts on the situation.

Everybody has a right to breathe the air of freedom.

Thanks for your support.
Nilesh Vasave

ECM Lounge

2007-09-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I am also an author of a blog on Enterprise Content Management (ECM) called ECM Lounge. you can visit this blog by clicking following link:

http://ecmlounge.blogspot.com/

This blog is about my views and findings on Enterprise content management, sharepoint, portal, MOSS 2007, WSS 3.0, Web Services, Intranet technologies, document management and collaboration tools.

hope you all will like it.

Travel Notes - In and around Lah Lah Land!

2007-09-07T03:28:00.000-07:00


"Singapore – The Lah Lah Land!"
Chapter 1: Malaysia!
“4 months in a one-city country, $12000… 40 days of trying for air tickets to anywhere (even Timbuktu) without any luck… $10 4 days of Chinese New Year holidays with no where to go… frustrating… Know that you can still get a visa for Malaysia in 1 day and go around Malaysia’s best destinations by road for 4 full days for less than $500… - Priceless…………… “
Malaysia - It was not my first choice, in fact it was last!! As the above Fake master card ad says… There was 4 days of holidays coming over in January end 22nd to 25th January, a super long weekend!! Every flight going out of Singapore was booked, even waiting list was closed month before!! Still tried to book tickets for India, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia (Yes!!) even Vietnam!!(Don’t ask why!!) The point is I was that desperate after 4 months in Singapore.. I really wanted to get out and have a good time in any of the country other than Singapore!! (Though it was a totally different matter that I went to Bali, Indonesia in Christmas )… It’s not that I have anything with Singapore. It’s a great country! Great place to shop around, nice, peaceful, some good night spots, golf courses, beaches (???!!), but hey how many times you go to the same place again and again.. As Singapore being a one-city country, population even less than Ahmedabad (My home town), It feels like ground hog day!!! (I have nothing against ground hog day as well!)… My colleague/friend Shailendra introduced me to one of his friend, Hiren. Seems like a nice guy. Told him about wanted to go to Thailand (first choice), he said… well, he wanted to go there too!! Wow, 2 are better!! Big savings!! So I said let’s try for two tickets, if luck’s with us then we might get the high priced last minute tickets (just for the information – My luck sucks!!) … So, we didn’t got the tickets… It was the last week before the holidays. I told him lets try Malaysia!! Went to Malaysian embassy, applied for visa and got the visa on 4th day (duh… weekend!!) so, Monday got the visa, called the travel agent, booked bus tickets for Kuala Lumpur!! $55 per person 1 way!!… Was feeling like I am in heaven!! Finally I am going out of Singapore for 4 full days!!! Well the big day arrived (Night actually..) we were catching an AC bus from Lavender train station, Singapore to Johar Bahru(JB), Malaysia which was only 45 mins away from there and from JB we’re changing the bus with more facility and wider seats… We boarded the bus at 10:30 from Lavender, reached Singapore border in 25 mins, the traffic was bad… took us more than 45 mins to clear customs and immigrations from both sides!!! It’s one bridge between Singapore and Malaysia. You cross the bridge and you are in Malaysia. We reached JB at around 12:00. changed the bus… the Seats was really huge, almost as big as plane’s business class!! The travel company gave us couple of Oranges as a good luck (I was puzzled when they gave us oranges for good luck.. is the bus service and roads in Malaysia that bad that we need a good luck, instead of a good driver and decently maintained bus!!!?) but, then I found out that in Chinese new year it’s consider as a good luck and it’s customary to give oranges to others!! Well, so much for a lesson in Chinese cultural. I was excited about the whole Malaysian experience. So! Malaysia, ready or not, here I come…………….. Though the bus was comfortable and specious, only one problem, the A.C. duct was right above over seat without anything to adjust the flow, and it was blowing too much. After an hour we both were freezing. I thought if I was wearing half sleeve t-shirt and a cotton pant, which I found out the hard way that was not appropriate for the bus journey!! I looked at Hiren, the bugger was sleeping like a baby!! I felt jealous of his thick skin and looked at my thin body and cursed the Gujarati dhokalas and khakhras my mom used to feed me for breakfasts and other non-meat(muscles) building Gujarati foods. Made a mental note about eating more meat in the future. Meanwhile the problem persists, forcing me to retract my hands in my small sized half sleeve cotton t-shirt which read “HardRock Café - Surfers Paradise – Love all, Serve all” “somebody please serve me!” I screamed in my thoughts!!! And folded my hands inside my t-shirts making me look like handless bagger on the streets of Mumbai! But it was comfortable, I was successful in reducing the amount of cold on my body! I found my salvation when bus stopped for a break around 2 am in some Malaysian town, where I bought a thermal blanket.. I was feeling like re-born with thicker skin!! Good Morning KL:
(KL bus interchange at 6:30 am)	Morning 5:30 we were in Kuala Lumpur, It was looking more like outside of Mumbai central train station except a partial view of it’s famous twin tower Petronas and some other good looking buildings on the background, but I was happy as I was finally out of Singapore and in some new country. Now the big question, how to plan our 4 precious days. With a brief discussion with Hiren, we came up with a rough plan, it was like this, Day 1 we will go to Genting Highlands, which is a mountain city with lots of entertainment and hotels to stay in, Day 2 go to Penang, Catch a ferry to Langkawi Islands, stay in Langkawi for two days, on Saturday comeback to KL, stay night in KL book bus to Singapore for Sunday afternoon, by that time see as much KL as possible. The plan looked all right.
It was 6:00 am in the morning after our agreement about going to Genting, the booking offices were opening at 7:00 am. We had full one hour to kill. KL bus stop was no better than any Indian State Transport bus stops, but as George Bush say in his lousy speeches “we will prevail” the queue was very long considering the fact that it was 6 am in the morning so we thought Genting must be very popular place. We took turn in using man’s room (which was horrible as no water and long queue) at last 7 am and the ticket window opened, suddenly the long line comes to life and every body started rushing towards the small window. Within seconds the line became uncontrolled mob and everybody was charging towards the small window, pushing and hitting everybody around, as Bush in Iraq and we at the KL bus ticket counter found out the hard way that prevailing in war or buying bus tickets in KL is not easy at all. In the end we got tickets for 8:30 bus. We were very satisfied by our hard work and we have prevailed. We boarded the bus at 8:30, as soon as we got out of KL’s bustling morning traffic; we saw hills with magnificent cave entrances. Later only I found out that they were the world famous Batu caves just outside KL. Batu caves are natural wonders and also there is a Hindu temple inside! After an hour’s journey we started ascending, after reaching some height we saw some magnificent mountain range, it was beautiful. Within half an hour we were near the top of the mountain and very close to Genting, suddenly we saw a white fog on the curvy road ahead. I thought fire in the jungle but to my surprise and amazement it was a cloud, very cool cloud, from there on our journey to Genting was like journey to heaven as there were clouds everywhere, and it was cold!! The buildings were all covered with clouds; we were unable to see beyond 2-3 floor, it was like magic kingdom. When we reached at the foothills of Genting, there was a huge crowd lining up to go up on the mountain in Cable car.
(Outside Genting Cable car station)	It was a long line with almost 500 people infront of us. We decided to wait and went to have some food as we were hungry, in nearby restaurant. There for the first time I have encountered the Indian ness exist in very root of Malaysian culture, many of the “authentic” Malay food names were like roti, daal, pratha etc are all Indian names and they were the same Indian roti, daal, parathas!! We had roti and daal as breakfast and some tea which also surprisingly made like Indian tea! Back in the line, it took us 45 minutes when we got chance to get a cable car, but instead the security guard took us in another direction, were he signed towards a bus and told us that cable car will take another 1 hour, if you want reach at the top early you can go by bus!! What the??! But in the end we took bus, When we reached to Genting there were big hotels everywhere and strangely no houses!! Hmm.. interesting.
When we reached at the bus stop in Genting it was at the gate of Genting Hotel, and bloody it was Freeeeeeeeezing…. And we were ill prepared for this kind of terrible cold, as we were never imagined in our wildest dreams (and also never bothered to ask anybody) that there will be a place near equatorial hit and humidity which will be this cold that we need winter clothing. But again my all-reliable Starbucks came to the rescue it was there inside the hotel, thank God and America for Starbucks – a life savior. After admiring the beautiful (and freezing)outdoor with the cup of cappuccino, we entered the hotel. Within 15 mins we knew why Genting was so popular. It’s a gambling capitol of Malaysia, which is pre-dominantly a Muslim country and gambling is banned in Islam. But rightly so and ironically too, the Casinos are banned for Malaysian Muslims??!! Only non-Malaysian Muslims and tourists are allowed		(Near Genting Bus Stop)
inside Casino (Run by Malaysian Muslims), but you can see lot of head scarves and Muslim caps inside casinos and you know that the law is just customary. We wanted to try our luck but as I mentioned earlier that my luck sucks, the bags were not allowed inside the casino and we both had backpack with us, and the lockers were full (and also too small for our backpacks) we decided against it. We started wandering around and found out that it’s also a shopper’s paradise with lots of shops and restaurants and café inside the hotel it self. The most amazing thing we found while roaming for hours is that Genting is nothing but cluster of big hotels with casinos and shopping, food and amusement parks, it’s an entertainment city! All the hotels are inter connected and there are shop after shops and you just forget from where you entered and where are you going, there is lot to see and lot to do. But first and foremost we went shopping for some winter clothes. We bought wintery jackets from Bum equipment!
(Inside Genting hotels)	Because of Chinese New Year the place was full of people. We reached a central area kind of a space which was really huge and had lots of rides in it with all the world famous monuments in one place from statue of liberty to Eiffel tower. It was fun. There were lion dance and dragon dance shows there, which we enjoyed very much. After spending 5-6 hours browsing through stores and fake monuments, we decided to go outside and see the scenery around. We got out of the area via exit from First World Hotel, which itself if very big and colourful building still mostly covered in clouds, it looked amazing. We came out and walked toward the edge of the mountain to see the valley below (about 5 mins walk!) and what we saw was beyond belief the whole valley was covered with white cotton clouds, there was no bottom in sight. It was like a white foamy sea with pockets of green islands. It was amazingly beautiful. We just stood there for half an hour and enjoyed the view, mystified
by the amazing nature we decided to take some photos, and we decided that we need a photo of both of us, there were 2 really beautiful girls in head scarves standing near by. So we asked them to take our pictures and they did. I thought Malaysia is really beautiful. By 4 pm we were arguing, we were unable to decide whether to go back to KL or stay in Genting. Tried some hotels but they were either full or very costly due to the holidays. So decided that we will go back to KL. Had lunch at one of the Kebab places. This hotel hunting had gave us one advantage was not all wasted, we found place to leave our baggage in safe custody without paying a single buck, at the lobby of First World Hotel, we have registered our selves as customers who wants a room for one night and left our luggage to their make shift open luggage room guarded by their bellboys. We roam around for couple of hours and came back at 6:30 in the evening to go back to the base bus stop using cable car.		(First World Hotel in Clouds..)
(at the edge of the Genting Mountain..)	This time we got cable car and reached base bus stop admiring valley below us with beautiful lush jungles and amazing sun set. We took 7:30 bus and reached KL around 9:15 pm. Now next big question, where will we stay the night?? The bus has dropped us near Chinatown; I told Hiren lets stay in some cheap Chinese lodge to save some money. We started walking towards Chinatown; we were both tired and stressed from traveling and walking in Genting for hours. But still dragging ourselves on the streets of KL to find some good cheap hotel. Saw one really nice hotel went inside, ask about a room with 2 single bed, got a nasty smile from the man behind the counter, told us with foxy smile “We are full just 1 small room with double bed is left, is it alright?” We were tired and wanted hot bath and wanted to sleep. So we said “ok show us the room”.
The room was alright but decided it’s too expensive for a double bad room it was 99 ringgets(Malaysian currency) per night (S$ 50, or INR 1350), said “thank you” and walked out. Finally found a real cheap hotel room with 2 single bed in just 55 ringgets (S$ 27, INR 700), it was not very good hotel but it was perfect for our budget. After an hour we went out for food hunting. Though tired we were very hungry too. The hotel door was opening in front of the famous china town market. Which was all bustling with tourist buying cheap imitations of Rolex watches and Nike shoes. But it was impressive. Found McDonalds in the corner had chicken burger meal (at that time there was Bird flu scare all around south east Asia, so people were avoiding eating chicken!). After feeling our bellies with potential bird flu infected chickens, , we went around window shopping in Chinatown market for an hour, where Hiren bought his sunglasses. I was looking for some souvenirs but didn’t buy anything at all. Went back to hotel at around 11:00 pm. Went to bed straight away. Within 1 hour we both were freezing…		(View from cable car)
the AC duct above our bed was blowing like hurricane wind, 100 miles per hour!! And there were no controls to adjust it!! After struggling to find a switch or something to slow down AC, Hiren went downstairs to ask the manager if he can turn down the arctic wind in our room. He came up angry and with lots of newspapers in his hand!!! I asked “what’s up dude, why do you want to read the whole weeks newspaper in one night???” he said, “This is the only solution my friend, and started covering the AC duct with the newspapers… I’ve started laughing hysterically… he joined in and we laughed like anything for about half an hour, before going back to sleep, as the AC has now very much in “control”. Woke up in the morning got ready and went to catch bus to Langkawi, again bought tickets in same fashion, but now were expert in pushing and punching, so it was easy. Boarded the bus to Pulau Penang (Pulau means Island). It was around 6 hours journey from KL to Penang. The plan was to reach Penang by 3:00 pm and then take ferry to Langkawi Island and stay in Langkawi for 2 days and explore the island and it’s white sandy beaches and amazing wildlife. We reached Penang as expected but there was slight problem, the ferry to Langkawi leaves only 8:00 am in the morning and there is no other ferry leaving from Penang to Langkawi during the day!! We were disappointed that means, we will be wasting 1 precious day in Penang. But there was more, me and Hiren lost each other in a shopping mall. We were looking for each other for more than half an hour before finding each other, it was tiring and frustrating as we were carrying our heavy backpacks and going up and down and round and round in the mall. But we found each other. Decided to buy ferry tickets for next morning and get a hotel room to dump our heavy burden. Hired a paddle rickshaw, and traveled in lightning fast 1 km/hour speed to our destination. I was so embarrassed as everybody on the street and road were watching us like we were some novelty item in some lame museum exhibition. The travel agent from where we bought ferry tickets and also our Penang to KL bus ticket for next night told us that, “Chulia Street” is best place to stay in Penang if we want to enjoy the real Penang, as it’s the hub for the backpackers around the world. Chulia street it is. We after leaving our supersonic ride we decided to walk from hotel to hotel to find cheap deal, finally found old, un-restorable, fractured from every side ancient Chinese pagoda type hotel, in just 30 ringgets.
(Our hotel on Chulia Street, Penang)		(Chulia Street, Penang 7:00 am)
To our surprise our hotel was a hangout for the backpackers, around 7:00 pm the “restaurant” in front of our hotel was full with travelers from all around the world, Americans, brits, aussies etc. the pool table was full too. we decided to play pool. After a game we went out for dinner in another Indian restaurant, it was not as good as the other but was alright and it was next to a cinema hall which was showing some Kamal Hasan starrer Tamil movie!! We wandered around the street and found one bar, it was small but the music was good and it was full of beautiful people stayed there for an hour, had drink (me coke, Hiren beer I think…), came back around 11 pm. Straight to bed. Next morning, got up early to catch ferry. We decided to leave our baggage in the hotel and took only essential stuff as extra t-shirt and swimming shorts etc. Took local bus to ferry terminal, the bus was really old and noisy, felt like it will going to break down in any second, but reached the ferry terminal without any problems, only to find out that the Terminal we thought was for Langkawi was for big commercial ships and Langkawi ferry goes from another terminal, which was 10 minutes walking distance.
(Pool in Penang Hotel)	It was almost 8:00 am, we were on the verge of screaming, we walked fast almost running towards to ferry terminal. Reached there and found out that the ferry has not come yet and will take another 15 minutes. We were relieved. There were about 300 to 500 people waiting for ferry with more than half looks like Japanese tour groups, with fluorescent color jackets and different color hats to identify them from others. After 15 minutes wait I saw a huge ship coming towards our jetty, I thought this might not be the one. Within 5 minutes I knew it was not it was coming from Indonesia. Our ferry arrived right behind the huge ship. It was 2 and half hours journey in fast ferry. It was sickening experience as the ferry was rocking almost like bumpy roller coaster ride. The on ferry movie was “The Last Samurai” starring Tom Cruise; we can clearly see that it was pirated copy, as the movie was not released in Asia. We landed in Langkawi jetty after 2 and half hour’s difficult sea ride.
(Langkawi Island - Eagle park)	First impression was “It’s ok, nothing spectacular”. The island looked all right. First thing’s first… Food!! Had chicken burger and cheese fries in KFC at mall adjacent to ferry terminal. Decided to hire taxi to go around Island as we had only 7 hours before last ferry departs from Langkawi to Penang. Went straight to Langkawi waterfall, which was decent track, bath in our undies and came back in 1 hour!! It was really fun! Rushed to the beach which was the main attraction for us as we heard lot about it. As soon as our taxi reached beach road I just screamed “Stop! I know this beach! It’s in many bollywood movies!!” (the immediate one I remember is “oh priya” song from the movie “Daraar”). It was beautiful, pure white sand and dark blue water with small green island in the middle of the sea… it was amazingly beautiful. The water was really calm and slightly warm as it was afternoon and the sun was blazing above. But it was worth it the beach is called “Tanjong Rua”. It was like peace of heaven. There was a resort near by called Tanjong Rua beach resort. After swimming for more than hour, we met a boat’s man who offered us 2 hour trip to near by island for snorkeling and island hopping.
We have accepted happily as he was charging 100 ringgets and we can have a new experience as non of us have snorkeled before and even went this deep in the sea. 2 slightly old English couple joined us in the boat. Then only we found out that the boat was originally hired by these two and we were hitchhiking so that the boatowner can earn some extra cash. The boat’s man has introduced us as his cousins J we have pretended like were actually related.. that was fun!! He took us near a small island where there were coral rocks, he told us that there were really good fishes in the water, so the English gentleman and me we jumped in the water (me with a life jacket ofcourse!!) I was unable to see anything as I didn’t had any snorkeling gears! So the kind English lady offered me her which politely accepted. From then on the sea was beautiful, I saw really beautiful fishes with all sizes and colours. The rock formation near the island were dramatic there were some cavings inside the rocks too. it was amazing experience after a while I heard a “thud” sound. Hiren was in the water too with the life jacket. We snorkeled around for an hour. During my snorkeling adventure I have did something which I’ve regretted later.		(Me at Tanjong Rhua beach)
(Me Snorkling)	There was a huge rock near by just for the fun I tried to climb that rock from the water.. o oh.. that was a bad idea. As the rock was very sharp it’s it was made of small needles.. I end up with bruises in both my hands and legs! We finished snorkeling and got back to our boat. After that we head to another deserted island where we said good by to the English couple who were planning to snorkel around that island and came back to the Tanjong Rua beach where our taxi driver was waiting. We rushed back to the ferry terminal and found out that our ferry was 1 hour late! Well waited for an hour. When we finally boarded ferry the sickening feeling started again..this time there was some Chinese martial art movie in our ferry trip. The boat was moving fast as well as my stomach. Finally landed in Penang, back to the hotel. Rested for a while and then went for dinner at the Indian restaurant.
Around 11 we left the hotel to catch our bus back to KL. We slept through the journey. When we reached KL we were really tired as it was the last day of our amazing trip. It was around 6:00 am in the morning and there was still an hour left for ticket windows to open. So decided to freshen up and store our luggage in safe place. Luckily we found a lodge nearby where we can store our luggage for 10 rinngets and also for 5 ringgets can have shower too.. that was good. After getting ready and putting our luggage at the safety of the lodge, we decided that we will go and see the famous Petronas towers. First thing’s first…We went to bus terminal to buy tickets to Singapore. There we had another shocking news. All the buses going to Singapore were full! So no tickets!! We were tired and just wanted to go back home, so me and hiren tried separately to find any means of transportation but no luck… after another half an hour hiren came back with one Indian guy, they have managed a deal with a taxi driver who was ready to take us to Johor Bahru for 300 ringgets (SGD 150), we were desparate and tired so decided why not.		(Me under Petronas - Kuala Lumpur)
(Sardarji under Petronas)	But at that moment somebody started shouting “Please queue here for tickets to Johor Bahru” we ran towards that direction where a lady with head scarf was standing outside a ticket window with a walkie talkie in her hand, we bought 3 tickets for JB. She told us the bus will depart at 10:30 am. We were happy and decided to have breakfast as it was just 8:00 am, went to Starbucks for coffee and some food. Didn’t forgot to take our new Sardar friend from India. Heard his story with our breakfast. He just came from Thailand 1 day ago, the hotel booked by his travel agent said there was no booking on his name though he has paid full money to the agent, so he has to pay again in Thailand, in Malaysia the stay was alright. His next destination was Singapore where he suppose to stay for 1 night and fly back to India. He was a police officer in town of Patiala, Punjab. After finishing the breakfast, we went to see the Petronas. Thought it was early in the morning there were more than 50 people most of them foreigners lining up to buy tickets to go up in Petronas. We took some photos around Petronas and it was ready 10 so came back to bus terminal.
Around 10:30 am the lady reappeared near the ticket booth and told us to follow her… we walk down on the main road and then she asked us to stop and form a group. After about 20 minutes wait a bus came and we all boarded the bus. It was not very comfortable but we were happy we were going back!! The journey back to JB was comfortable (except the part when I had to pee and the bus driver took around 40 minutes before stopping for a break!! It is very hard to enjoy the scenery with full bladder ;-) ) after “lightening” myself, I slept most of the time. We reached JB around 5 pm. We boarded bus number 170 which goes near bugis junction, Singapore. But when bus reached main road from the terminal, we saw the sea of vehicles going towards the same direction. All vehicles were going towards Singapore border. It took us more than 45 minutes to reach to Singapore boarder (normally 10 minutes). After clearing the Malaysian border we entered Singapore, woodlands checkpoint, again almost 1 hour for immigration and customs and wait for our next bus.		(The Petronas - Kuala Lumpur)
Reached Bugis around 7:00 pm. We have decided to help the Sardarji out in finding his hotel and making sure that everything is alright. So went with him to find his hotel which we found after 30 minutes in china town. There was no booking on his name, phoned his local agent and waited and argued with the hotel manager for more than an hour, we were tired, angry, frustrated and in the desperate need of a bath, finally out of nothing the agent called and settled with the hotel manager to keep Sardarji for one night and he will bare the charges and will settle it with the Indian agent. Felt happy and satisfied that helped needy fellow Indian. Parted with Sardarji with an invitation to come to his hometown “Patiala”.
In the end it was a journey full of excitement, difficulties, fun, heat, humidity, beauty, thrill, satisfaction and humility, which definitely made me slightly more tolerant, wiser and informed among other things. Hope you all liked my company. Please feel free to give me your suggestions in how I can improve my travel writing and how do you like the writing in general. Thank you for being with me in this journey. Hope to see you in the next adventure of Nilesh till then “Long Days and Pleasant Nights” (From Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series novels). - By Nilesh Vasave
To see picture gellary of my Malaysia trip please visit my Yahoo! Photo album or Go back to my home page .

The Chak De! effect!

2007-09-06T04:18:00.000-07:00

"Chak De India!"

The new mantra in the cricket crazy nation of 1 billion+ population of India. Where cricket is worshipped, and all the cricket players are worshipped as no less then gods!

Chak De India! a new movie starring the the biggest bollywood star "Shahrukh Khan" as a "traitor" turned coach of not so popular sports team of Indian women's hockey. His responsibility: To unite the all so divided team of Indian women's hockey, to win the women's hockey world cup and to erase the "traitor" from his name, which he got after losing the world cup final against India's arch rival in every sport - Pakistan! Can he pull off the impossible??!! Well, watch the movie for that!!

But, this article is not about the movie itself, it's about it's after effect which is happening in India. Suddenly, "Chak De India!" has become a new buzz word for any sporting event where India is taking part, may it be Hockey, Tennis, football and guess what! Cricket!! suddenly people is paying attention to all the sports, specially hockey! which is India's national game (Yes! not cricket). Recently Indian men's hockey team won against Srilanka with whooping 20-0 goals!!! also, women's hockey is also in highlight with interviews of women's hockey team members and their preprations, talk shows on all television chennals. Hockey is getting a prime time slot in all the media coverage. Also, Indian football team won the Nehru cup for the first time in history! they won against Syria in the finals. In the Tennis also, Sania Mirza's form continues in the US open in doubles and mixed doubles. She lost in the third round in singles. Mahesh bhupathi and Leander Paes is also winning in their games.

One, common factor in all these things! The average Indian sports fan and the players, all are motivated and loving the Chak De! effect.

May the Chak De! effect continue forever...

Chak De India!

WelCome!

2007-09-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome oh you wanderer! welcome to my humble home in this wild wild web! Hope you'll like here, we can surely chit chat over a cuppa coffee.

Welcome!