Hiking in Arbor Hills

Yesterday we went to Arbor Hills Nature Preserve for a walk. A welcome change after being cooped up indoors through the weekend. The Arbor Hills Nature Preserve is located close to our home... maybe about 2-3 miles. It is a 200-acre open area with concrete walking/ hiking trails and off road mountain bike and hiking trails. The Preserve offers a close-to-nature experience with an abundance of serenity and an escape from the chaos of urban sprawl. Arbor hills hosts several species of plants, trees and animals and with several brooks and creeks flowing through the preserve it is an ideal place to spend a quiet afternoon amidst nature. Speaking about fauna Arbor Hills supports a variety of rats, birds, bats, Rabbits and fish in the creeks. A pond at one extreme of the preserve serves to stock up fish.

There are over 2 miles of concrete trails, unpaved hiking paths and a bike trail. One can spend the whole day hiking, walking and visiting the various spots of the nature preserve. This is just not for hikers and adventurers, for families with children there is a Playground, Paved recreational trail (approx. 4.4 miles), Natural unpaved trails for pedestrians, designated off-road cycling trail (approx. 2 miles), a natural biofilter for cleaning surface run-off from the parking lot before it reenters the ground water tables and an observation tower which offers some fantstic sunset views.

Yesterday was my third visit to the Nature Preserve and this time I had remembered to carry the camera to take some pictures. And yesterday we explored the most in the park, we went to almost every nook and corner of the preserve crossing creeks, walking over rickety wooden bridges, along off road trails, along the railway tracks which forms one border of the preserve, along the fish-filled creek etc. A truly invigorating experiece.

One peculiarity I noticed in the park is the totally brown and leafless trees contiguous to lush green ones. The former has shed leaves due to fall and the latter continues to be green and unaffected by the fall. There are trees which don't have any leaves but are full of colourful fruits, red, yellow, brown, green etc, so the tree in effect looks red and attractive. Felt good watching these and capturing these unique sights in the camera.

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve Pictures


Click here for a map of Arbor Hills

Fantastic Musical Evening

Listening to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the American Airlines Center, Dallas

People who know me wont believe when I say that I attended concerts/ musical programmes two days in a row. But believe me that is what I did yesterday and today.

But today's concert exceeded my expectations in all counts. The venue, American Airlines Center , is a humongously large auditorium-cum-indoor stadium which can seat over 15,000 people. And we were in the uppermost row but still could get an eyeful and earful of the concert.

Designed by David M. Schwarz/Architectural Services, Inc. and HKS, Inc., the AAC doesn't appear so large from outside. But once inside I was surprised to see that vast corridors, shops, eateries and seating galleries. The acoustics and visual effects are also well planned and highly effective. The sweeping arches, high-tech gadgetry, superior seating comfort and other features make the AAC a premier sports and entertainment venue in US.

The performance of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was one of the best I have ever attended. It was not a mere musical performance but a combined sound and light show featuring psychedelic lighting, laser beams floating all over the place, electric fireworks etc all gyrating in rhythm to the music which ranged from classical jazz to hard rock to metal to trance. Indeed the violin and guitar and the vocal were invigorating. I am glad I attended and every penny of the entry ticket (almost $40) was worth it.

An Entertaining Jazz Performance

This is the first time I experienced a live musical in the US. We went to listen to a Jazz Concert at the Dallas Museum of Art today. It has been a long tradition of the museum to host a free jazz concert every Thursday at the Atrium the cafe inside the museum. Today's musical was rendered by Brigette Rideau and company.

To say that I was totally entertained by the orchestra would be an understatement. The musical rendition was soul soothing and touched hearts. Bridgette Rideau's tone combined with the electrifying guitars, piano and drums made my evening truly ecstatic. The ecclectic variations which Bridgette could achieve with her voice as she sung numerous numbers in excellent fusion with the instruments mesmerised the audience who gave a standing ovation at the end of the show.

Truly an evening well spent.

Guinness World Records finally gives recognition to Hindu Temples

Akshardham temple, Delhi gets Guinness record
It is good news, to know that the western world which hitherto were mainly focussed on the negatives of India is slowly beginning to look at the positives of our country. The Guinness Book of World Records which had thus far not included any Hindu temple in its list of world's large religious structures has now added the Akshardham temple, Delhi. The whole world is aware, of the plethora of large and sprawling temples which dot the Indian hinterland. But surprisingly the presence of large religious structures in India had escaped the notice of Guinness executives till date.

The Akshardham temple in Delhi has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's largest Hindu temple complex.

A senior official of the Guinness World Records Ltd travelled to India last week to present two world record certificates to the head of Swaminarayan Sansthan, Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Michael Witty, a senior member of the Guinness World Record Main Management Committee, presented the awards to Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sansthan (BAPS) under two categories: Most Hindu temples consecrated by a single person and secondly, the world's largest comprehensive Hindu temple.

This is the first time that the Guinness Book has recognised a Hindu temple in its list of large religious structures.

Read more on Deccan Herald

Video of ducks at White Rock Lake Park

White Rock Lake Park

It is a bright, sunny and a tad too windy day. Hoping to explore a little of the surrounding we decided to head to the White Rock Lake Park which is about 22 miles from home... This is a vast lake sprawling over a few hundred acres surrounded by manicured lawns, wooded stretches, green parks. There are walking, bi-cycling and hiking trails around the lake and a special fenced off area for playing with pets.. i.e dogs.

The boat clubs were obviously closed for two reasons, winter and the festival holiday. We reached there and walked around but then found to our dismay that the wind had really picked up. Though the sun was bright and shiny the wind chilled us to the bone... after walking on one side of the lake we just decided to head back and hit the gym instead. So here I am hitting away on the computer after watching a movie Sound of Music.

Here are some pictures of the White Rock Lake... not quite great.. just basic stuff... and a video too... check it out...

A consumer Christmas

I am spending my first Christmas in a Christian nation but I don't see any signs of celebrations on this day. I remember the various Christmas celebrations I have seen in India, at homes, churches, public places, parishes etc. So colourful and so festive... here it is quite opposite. Christmas is a holiday and everything... everything.. including churches are closed down.

The last prayer was held yesterday at 6.00 pm and that is it... there is no concept of mid-night mass on Christmas eve, at least not in Protestant churches here. I was mentally comparing the same scenario with India, it would be a holiday of course, most offices closed and businesses in a laid back scenario, discount sales, festival offers etc would be there much akin to what all shops offer here. But the celerbatory vibrations, the gaity, social gatherings, christmas prayers, etc are virtually absent, at least to my eyes.

Playing with a wild anaconda

Ryan Gaston's brush with a wild anaconda in the Venezuelan Amazon.

Killing deer yields punishment in US

Salman Khan's burtal killing/ hunting of black bucks in Rajasthan is almost forgotten news now. In India hunting is banned and possessing wildlife is illegal but when celebrities and people in power hunt, they usually get to go scot free, thanks to an insensitive press and their money and muscle power.

Now lets go to the other side of the world. In America, hunting is legal and one can get licenses to hunt deer, coyotes and other game. But when people display insensitivity and kill these gentle creatures of the wild, they are punished. I read this news report about how two kids, star athletes were sentenced to 88 days to a off-campus disciplinary programme for beating two deer to death. Isn't it nice to know that and wish for similar impartial rules and their enforcement in India. Read on to know the entire story.



Iraan is a small community/ town of about 1,100 sited about 115 miles southwest of San Angelo and 996 miles from Dallas, west of the Crockett County line. Recently four members of Iraan High School football team accused in the beating deaths of two deer trapped on a baseball field were ordered to spend 88 days of the spring semester in an off-campus disciplinary program.

Earlier this month two deer were found dead on the baseball field allegedly beaten to death in the previous night. The guilty students were charged of hunting deer with illegal means and during closed season. Two of the students identified as Call Cade(17), a first-team all-district quarterback, and Zac Owen(17), a first-team running back, are football players according to Capt. Scott Davis of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.

The names of other two students involved in the crime was not revealed because they are underaged. But all the students face up to $500 fines on two Class C misdemeanor counts when they will be tried at the Pecos County Justice on January 8.

The four will be sent to the Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement, which educates students off-campus.

Reported in Dallas Morning News

Writers invited for an assignment

Comprehensive hotel booking website invites freelance writers and journalists to produce general interest articles about their meta-search engine www.HotelsCombined.com. Poised as cyberspace's top hotel comparison website, HotelsCombined.com is interested in reaching out to all audiences: consumers, business executives, leisure travellers and backpackers, families, students etc.

The website wants writers to use the website, write an article and get it published in order to get the writers fee of $200 depending on the publication or website.

HotelsCombined.com is a hotel search engine used by consumers to find hotels worldwide, and to compare prices from multiple merchants. The site enables consumers to find the lowest rates for any hotel in the world and provides comprehensive hotel content including millions of hotel descriptions and images, hotel and merchant reviews and advanced maps.

Once the user identifies the best deal and supplier for their needs, HotelsCombined links them through to the supplier website to book directly. The site searches all suppliers’ websites in real-time ensuring up-to-the minute pricing and availability. HotelsCombined was founded in 2005 by former directors of hotel websites HotelClub.com and RatesToGo.com. For more information, visit http://www.hotelscombined.com.

So what are you waiting for. Put on your thinking caps, pick up a pen and start writing.

Bike that races on Bio-Fuel!

Hayes Diversified Technologies (HDT) has come out with a B20-fueled diesel motorcycle which is making waves on racetracks. At the Bonneville Speedway's 2007 International Speed Trials, the bike won several races. Fred Hayes, promoter of HDT and chief test rider Byron Schmidt rode the bike on the track in and achieved a staggering 103-mph on the standard model and 110 mph for the turbo.

Amazing isn't it and eco-friendly too. The Bonneville, HDT's diesel bike is capable of fording a 24-in stream, and climbing or descending a 60 degree gradient slope while operating on any version of diesel, kerosene or jet fuel. These bikes run on B20 biodiesel (20 percent soybean, vegetable oil and other agricultural components; 80 percent petroleum diesel) and runs better than a petrol bike.

HDT diesel bikes have been regular Bonneville contenders since 2004, albeit with little class competition.

Click here for more details.

My videos

Since I didn't have much to blog or write about... as I have been mostly stuck at home in half-gloomy weather.. I thought I'd post some of my youtube videos on my blog. And this is what they are... mostly amateur stuff... some stunts I tried out at home....

A composition of pictures of my travel pictures. More like a slide show with some background music score and some bad titling.



This is a video of a short motorcycle tour in Tumkur district we can see Gopi on the Yamaha. The video was actually shot in a small digital camera by Dev who was sitting pillion on Anand's enfield.

Bright and sunny at last

After several days of wet, gloomy and foggy weather we had sunlight today.... but getting out of home is still a little dicey because of the cold and bone chilling winds that blow across here. So long as one is indoors with the heater on there is no problems at all... it can get down below freezing like it did last night but we will be snug and warm.

The apartment closed public water taps because water froze and pipes would have burst. Nights are really cold. But one good thing about the administration is that, the roads are maintained well so that there is very little or no ice on the roads.

Roads and cars are life of America, people say that it not crowded like in India. I agree but then there are so many cars on the highways, roads and every car has just one occupant. According to some statistics I found on the web America has 5 vehicles per capita. There are over 250 million cars on road as of today. That is almost one vehicle per person... America's population is around 300 million and leaving out children and those ineligible to drive it makes one car per person. And sometimes I wonder whether everybody is on the road because there are so many cars on the road... I am not talking about the city but the interstate highways and federal routes (national highways).

It is crazy I feel, but if people are not in the rat race they can't live here. If you don't have a car you can't go because there doesn't exist even a half-decent public transport system (at least in Dallas). I have probably seen 10 taxis since I came to Dallas about a month and half ago. And nothing is less than 2 miles from our home. So if you want to get grocery you have to drive... if you want to go to a restaurant you have to drive.... there is no concept of walking to the friendly neighbourhood grocer... All grocery stores are big national/ international chains.

A model I wonder if it will work for India. With a small population it is working pretty well here, but I wonder with arrival of Reliance Fresh, FoodWorld, Walmart what will happen to the small stores and how India will be 20 years down the line. Will the small players be forced to close shop? Will they be able to survive the onslaught of these mammoth corporations... wonder what will happen.... only time will tell....

Forced House Arrest

Well... the wet and cold spell continues... when I look out of the large window of our living room the picture is not pretty at all... the creek behind our home looks desolate.. most of the trees there have lost their leaves or are in the last stages of losing them.. leaves have turned from bright green to fiery red to lemony yellow and now birch brown before falling off...

It is too cold to walk out of home... and inside is cozy and warm thanks to the ubiquitous heater... inside the car also it is cozy because of the heater... so only when one is exposed, he feels cold otherwise it is quite cool or rather should I say warm...

So since I can't do travelling on my own I decided to do some armchair travelling... and during the research I hit this website of a radio station which has launched a travel show titled... "Let's Travel!" and a website related to that.

The website offers the same old things that a zillion other travel websites are offering: Travel Tips, StreetSmart Advice, Personal Adventures Podcasts, Photo Gallery and more. But then what set's "Let's Travel!" apart are host Susan Raphael and producer Michael Zufolo who invite you to explore the world with a different feature on the Web site and on the radio Thursdays at Noon (ET, US) and Saturdays at 6pm (ET, US) at http://www.tribecaradio.net/.

A podcast of each week's show is available on the Web site after the Thursday broadcast. All "Let's Travel!" shows are archived as podcasts."Let's Travel!" has a special twist -- offering a true insider's look at trips for people of all lifestyles. Susan Raphael, the show's host, puts the spotlight on travelers of all budgets, age groups and physical abilities. She interviews a vast array of globe-trotters, artists, writers, chefs, musicians and designers from around the world about their personal adventures, cultural perspectives and found treasures! Ms. Raphael will also share news of the joyous journeys and secret hideaways of the show's listening audience.


Browsers to our podcasts and join the "Let's Travel's Fan Club". If you wish to contribute then send your travel tips, stories, suggestions, questions to: info@letstravelradio.com. There comes another website into the already cramped travel space in the world wide web.

Cold and wet and not a ray of sunlight

Since yesterday the weather has suddenly changed... it is no longer sunny and warm with heavy winds chilling bones... it is completely overcast with clouds, no sunshine at all... in fact not even a trace of sunlight... and occassionally drizzling... not to mention the biting cold which encompasses our body when we go outdoors.... definitely not a good time to trek or hike in the woods of flat-as-pancake-Dallas region...

I was under the impression that the entire Texas was a flatland, replete with cattle ranches and horse borne cowboys with guns in their hip and chest holsters... but no... Texas has all kinds of landscapes... flat plains, high mountains with deep valleys and the ocean too... It is amazing.... but life is a tad too slow for people who come from India... or any other big city of US. Vehicles move fast on roads but life seems to stand still... there are big roads and vast open spaces but without the undulations created by the mother earth it seems boring to walk straight. The scenery is the same.... houses, grasslands, and sometimes big lakes...

Oh yes Dallas has this unique distinction, like Bangalore once used to have few hundred lakes around the city, this city has 163 large and medium sized lakes/ waterbodies within a distance of 100 miles from the city. Each lake is amazingly well maintained and most of them have boat piers where one can rent jet skis, sail boats, paddle boats, power boats etc... Wish India had such facilities and people lived good lives. That is not so, even if one invests and creates such facilities it would be ineconomical to run them because there wouldn't be enough customers... who are willing to pay to avail such services.

Yesterday I visited the American Eagle Harley Davidson showroom... oh! wow... it was heaven... I hate working in the sales department of any compay but if I were to get a sales job here I would happily do that... anyway I will be happier in the service working on the engine and transmission of these iron horses... I hadn't carried my camera, else I would have been able to get some really good pictures of bikes and the way they get serviced. I have made friends with some of the staff including the service manager who assured me that I can come anytime and take pictures of the works.

Wait for them.. and believe me you wont be disappointed... these machines are simply beautiful and riding them over the open highways, through undulating mountainous roads, hurtling down the slopes and just enjoying listeing to the deep throaty drone of the V-twin engines is nirvana... I simply love being around these massive motorcycles.

But for now I better get up and start my day...... there is loads of work to do.... and I haven't even started...

Jet lagged after your latest long distance flight? Read on...

A study being conducted about people who suffer Jet Lag is seeking volunteers so that effective ways and means of combating jet lag can be discovered. As a token of appreciation participating volunteers will receive Free Instruction in a Rapid Jet Lag Prevention Method.

Before deciding about participating or volunteering Jet lag sufferers can take an online survey is aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a new way of combating jet lag. Interested volunteers should read a brief booklet to participate. Apart from reading this booklet there is nothing else that a volunteer needs to do, no taking of drugs or mechanisms or schedule changes are suggested.

Preliminary research by Dr. Patricia Carrington, Ph.D., Associate Clinical Professor at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, NJ (USA) has revealed that by using a modern version of the ancient Chinese art of acupressure, one can drastically cut down jet lag, sometimes it can be elimiated too.

Daimon Sweeney who studied Chinese acupressure and evolved this method comments: "Individual travelers who have used this method are very pleased with how rapidly and easily they adapt to time zone changes, sometimes with no jet lag symptoms at all."

According to Sweeney the method works, very well and requires only small adjustments in the user's 'personal time zone settings' during the flight, so by the time a flier lands they are in tune with local time at the destination.

Dr. Carrington believes that evolution of a reliable non-drug method to relieve jet lag would benefit travel professionals, vacationers, business travelers, flight crews, military personnel, athletes, performers and others who cross multiple time zones frequently. And since this procedure is short and can be performed inflight. Moreover it takes only a few minutes of reading to prepare for the flight it would be easy.

Individuals who experience jet lag and would like to be part of this study are invited to get more information and take a short qualifying survey at http://www.MasteringEFT.com.

So if you are one of those who end up feeling miserable after a long flight, just log on and take the survey. You never know what benefits might accrue due to this investment of few minutes of your time.

A Website full of Travel Videos

Are you the kind of a discerning traveller who does loads of research before embarking on a holiday? Do you study brochures and books, view videos, ask friends before deciding on your holiday destination? Well if you are one such traveller, here is a website catered to your specific needs.

Welcome to http://www.travercial.com/, a unique travel website which brings together the best streaming travel videos from all over the internet onto one platform. Currently the site has videos of destinations from 80 different countries, from Antarctica to Wales and covering all seven continents.

The site doesn't limit itself in just compiling videos but goes a step further, it features a well researched Top-10 list of destinations in a particular country. The "Editor's Pick" section gives the flavor of the country. Web browsers can scroll across the panel to view the different videos available on the site. Videos feature cities, activities, natural beauty, and even eccentric activities available.

The "Real People" video streams at the end of the list are personal videos from travellers like yoiu and me. The site also features provides to national tourism websites of different countries. In addition to the 80 detailed countries, additional countries are covered by selected videos in the "Other Countries" pages for each continent. This section features 60 countries, thus the site total adds up to 140 countries. Just imagine videos detailing the various destinations of 140 countries. You can choose the country and the region inside to watch the video and then decide whether you want to go there or elsewhere. Promoted by Baraness Ventures, Travercial features over 2,500 travel videos.

Check out the site and the videos there on here.

You can also read one of the book reviews I wrote recently about Eleven Minutes

Views of Austin and surroundings

I have covered more or less my experiences at Austin, the capital city of Texas in my previous post when I wrote about attending the 'Empowering Women Entrepreneurs' conference. Here are some pictures I took during my short stay at Austin.



The Capitol building where the senators and governors of state of Texas do their business of legislation, audit, expenses, taxation etc. This is one huge building with a 60 ft 4 level basement. The interiors are exceptionally modern and expansive. The wooden door frames and window frames of the building have a striking Indian art influence. I wonder why. I mean the frames have a three level round fresco, much akin to the Kalasha which is installed atop most Hindu temples.

We took part in a tour (free) of the building and I made it a point to the guide about the door frames and wood work. Unfortunately he wasn't aware of the same and said he could give me the name of the architect who designed the building. But by the end of the tour I forgot to follow him and get the name so I have to do some more research on google and find out the origin of the design.

Later in the evening we visited the The Oasis restaurant to meet Catherine and her family. The restaurant designed to give it a wild west look has several interesting metal sculptures installed in its courtyard. The vast and beautiful Lake Travis on whose banks the restaurant has been built is actually a dam built across river Colorado. Here are some views of the sculptures and the Dam or the Lake Travis whatever you prefer to call it.

Lake Travis Views
Visiting the Texas Military Forces Museum

A new eco-friendly holiday resort

How would you like to live in a tree house sited contiguous to a turtle sanctuary and participate in hands-on community living. This is what the Playa Viva offers for discerning tourists who are particular about sustainability and conscious about the food they eat, the cars they drive, and the clothes they wear.

Playa Viva is one of the latest resort and residence community to be promoted on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The community offers western families the opportunity to continue their purpose-driven lifestyles while away from home, without sacrificing comfort or style. These eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable vacations are aimed at providing a mind and body rejuvenative experience, while simultaneously regenerating the land.

"Every day we make choices about how we live our lives, raise our children, and better connect with the world around us, and travel should be no different. Sustainability principles and features at Playa Viva help create long-lasting connections to family, friends, and the environment that enrich our lives," says David Leventhal, founder of the project who along with his wife Sandra Kahn was instrumental in promoting Rainforest2Reef, a preserve in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula protecting over 350,000 acres of jaguar habitat.

Playa Viva is sited on 200 acres of ocean-front property on the Pacific Coast of Mexico and a mere 30 minutes drive from the Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa International Airport.

By being near the airport, the environment of Playa Viva doesn't look one bit commercial. In fact the landscape, once a coastal forest was cleared to make way for coconut plantations. But now the plantation has been abandoned and the land rapidly regenerating into a forest. The Playa Viva community's efforts in bringing seeds from local native forests and over 7,000 trees have been planted to speed up restoration work. The existing palm trees are being relocated to the beach to stabilize dunes and serve as living piers for the project's casitas or tree house suites. The Playa Viva is one resort where over 80 percent of land has been protected, and only 20 percent developed to house resort accommodations and facilities. All aspects of Playa Viva's operations are designed to be low-impact and restorative to the land and natural systems.

Activities at Playa Viva range from releasing turtles into the ocean to planting trees to playing in the waves. For further information visit the company website http://www.playaviva.com/.

Pictures from the resort website

One more biker rides into oblivion

I recently read about the death of 69-year-old Robert Craig aka Evel Knievel, a daredevil Motorcyclist in New York Times. It is sad to hear of the death of a dare devil biker as Knievel. According to the newsreport his last days were marked by suffering as he ailed from pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition.


It is said that bikers don't die, they just ride into oblivion. This is exactly what happened to Knievel.

Knievel's first brush with fame was on December 31, 1971 when he vaulted his bike 151 ft over the fountains of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Though the vault was glorious, his landing was not so glamourous, he crashed and broke several bones in his body. But the accident didn't deter him, he vroomed on performing one death-defying stunt after another and garnered fame and fortune.

Every performance of his would attract thousands of bike enthusiasts who would virtually worship him as their hero. His popular stunts included flying over 10, 15 or 20 cars parked side by side. Another disastrous jump undertaken by Knievel was an attempt to jump across an Idaho canyon on a rocket-powered motorcyle in 1974.


Performing stunts hundreds of times, Knievel's actions were self destructive. He broke his bones several times and crashed his bikes. He retired in 1980 on advise by medical specialists. As he retired his famous quote about himself was that he was “nothing but scar tissue and surgical steel.”

Knievel was born in a small town and started his career as a petty thief stealing motorcycles and hub caps of cars. But transformed himself after a few jail terms and following his idol Joie Chitwood, an acclaimed stunt-car driver, he began performing dangerous motorcycle stunts.

Knievel has undergone over 15 major operations to relieve severe trauma and repair broken bones. Bone all over his body were broken from the skull to pelvis to ribs, collarbone, shoulders and hips. He had a titanium hip and aluminum plates in his arms and a great many pins holding other bones and joints together. He was in so many accidents that he occasionally broke some of his metal parts, too.

Bikers, especially those who find thrill in racing and performing dare devil stunts need to read more about Knievel and learn a lesson or two so that they will not repeat his mistakes and end up with a skeleton held together by nuts and bolts.


Pictures from NYT, The Age and EvelKnievel.com

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Conference

We are at Austin, the busy and crowded capital city of Texas. It is a wet day, a slight drizzle is spraying the city with tiny water droplets. Just the kind of day when one feels lazy and laidback with little or no interest of stepping out into the street, leave alone travelling 20 miles to attend a conference. But here I am at The Crossings, a location far removed from the hustle and bustle of the capital city and I am glad I came here. The setting is simply awesome and something that makes me feel one with nature. As we started in the morning I was skeptical whether I would enjoy or even be interested in the conference considering the title, I was wondering what would probably keep me from being bored out here.

But yes, the venue itself is enough to make me want to come here. I am quite sure everyone of you would know America and a large majority of you would know about Texas, the largest state in the US and which was formerly a sovereign republic before merging into the US. But I am quite sure very few would know Austin, the capital city of Texas and even fewer would have heard or visited The Crossings, a hilltop property located amdist the hill country outside of Austin. It is one of the few modern but very very eco-friendly properties I have visited. The Crossings positions itself as a boutique hotel, spa and meeting/ conference venue. Sprawling across an entire forested hill, the Crossings has 35-acre of grounds dotted with aromatic trees including juniper, rosemary and jasmine trees.

The view offered by the hilltop property is simply panoramic. I would say an ideal location for non-formal education and learning activities. The property prides in being 100 percent sustainable with only the most necessary human interventions. Buidings are built surrounded by trees and only the motorable roads are of concrete the walking paths are not paved but just metalled with gravel and rock.

I am quite sure we have similar properties in India which I am unaware of. I am aware of one non-profit organisation which has a property like this. Operating under the name of Navadarshanam, it is a eco-friendly community on the outskirts of Bangalore about 45 km from the city. But then the difference between this property and that is its access, here there is wide and easy road access and have convenient walking paths and motoring paths, while at Navadarshanam there are only foot paths and mud trails. It is definitely more rustic, but think of all the big thorns which would pierce through the soles into your legs. With a metalled or gravel pathway, this problem could be more or less eliminated.

One thing I have been quite impressed with the people here. When we enter a shop the sales person wishes us with a cheerful greeting and thanks you for visiting when you leave, irrespective of the fact whether you made a purchase or not. Absolute strangers wish you good morning or evening when you meet their eyes in the park or trail or even on the road. This kind of etiquette and courtesy goes a long way in developing business relationships and a positive image.

Shell petrol bunks in Bangalore have tried to inculcate this kind of culture. But the result has not been as good. The "Namaskara" they say is far from cheerful or friendly, it is more mechanical and just uttered. Just imagine if everyone in India were to smile and wish everyone else with whom they interact, how better our living experience would be. It will be difficult and people suspect initially, most or perhaps everyone will think that you have ulterior motives and that is why you are being extra courteous, but I believe in the ripple effect. It may take time but it will happen, the warmth you generate will only multiply exponentially.

I don't want to sound like a prude. I believe that "it is more important to be nice than to be important". This I heard from Swami Sukhabodananda when I attended a transformatory LIFE programme a few years ago. I learnt a few things but I need to learn a lot more.

Dinosaur foot prints in a beautiful river valley

Last weekend me, Padma and Srinivas (my elder brother) visited Glen Rose a beautiful river valley about 100 miles from Dallas. The town per se is not so interesting it is in fact a small settlement with about 2,200 people but what is attractive is the Dinosaur Valley Fossil Park on the outskirts of the town. But what's great about how this country has developed even small places and provided facilities. For such a small population there is a fully fledged court, hospital, excellent schools, a state-of-the-art athletic center, a police station, petrol bunks, super markets and businesses. Contrasting the same with Indian scenario, a place with even 20,000 population would probably not have a court or a police station. Even if there are then, there would not be any staff working there.

Anyway Glen Rose is a pleasant aberration from the flat as pancake Texan landscape. It is mountainous, there are hills, valleys and a crystal clear river running through the valley. It is in this valley that Dinosaurs raomed arond 250 million years ago. The place is amazingly beautiful, I mean it is like our himalayan tourist/ trekking areas, sans the population, noise and trash. There are well marked trails so people wont get lost. As one enters the park the authorities provide a highly informative and easy to read and follow map, so that visitors can explore the park on their own. There are adequate parking places in the park which are safe and clean.

We just parked our car in one location and walked the first location in the map which said Track one. There is an explanation signage which explained how to identify dinosaur footprints and we followed the track downhill into the valley. We walked through the foliage and under tall trees and soon came to the river... the scene was simply awe inspiring. The beautiful river, with clear water was in front of us. We could stand on the big rocks on the banks and look on either sides to see tall mountains flanking the river and the water snaking through lush green vegetation.


As we explored further we came across the dinosaur tracks, these three toed gigantic creatures which once lived and dominated the animal life on planet earth have imprinted their foot prints on soft soil, which ultimately became fossilised due to various changes in the earths climate and now after 250 million years they are available for us to explore, enjoy and feel awed. Comparing our feet with the size of footprints is a humbling experience, my feet felt as if it would fit into one flange of the dinosaur's footprint. It is about 2ft in length and 1.5 ft width. The three sharp ends reveal the kind of razor sharp claws that these creatures might have had.

"What if a Dinosaur were to be present now?" I wondered and immediately felt scared because if it were alive, I would have been its evening snack... and I definitely don't want that to happen... yikes...
Further we walked along the river enjoying the scenery and the weather and wished we had brought our swimming costumes, so we could have had a nice and cool dip in the river Plauxy's inviting and clear waters. We finished the walk and returned to the car and drove to the other end of the park where there is a river crossing opportunity. I mean the river is shallow here, only about a 2-3 ft deep, and park arthorities have placed huge boulders along the shallowest part of the river so that hikers can walk across and climb mountains on the other side. We gingerly stepped from one boulder to the other and crossed over and began walking through the forest.

One thing is amazing about the society here. There may be no close family ties, no kinship but one thing is certainly there, common courtesy. Anybody who crossed our path, even outright strangers, wish good morning, ask, how are you today? and such pleasantaries are exchanged. If they sneeze, they say "excuse me!" and if someone sneezes, they are immediate to utter "god bless you!". These are things that shape a society. I wish we could inculcate the same culture in our country. We saw several people returning in the path we were headed and everyone was quick to flash a smile and say "hello! how are you doing?". We returned the same greeting and trudged along the forest path to reach a small creek, where we turned east towards the main river.

This was a unique experience too, it made us feel as if we were part of some hollywood film set, walking on a semi-dry river bed flanked by two tall mountains. After walking about 10 mins we reached the river and noting that it was shallow, we decided to cross the river and head on the mountain bike trail back to the camping area where our car was parked. That was a dicey proposition, which proved very useful for us. The rocky river bed was fully covered by algae and we had to be extra careful as we put one step after another towards the other bank. But as we neared the opposite bank we were surprised to see several giant dinosaur foot prints. This time there were two varieties of them... one belonging to the 45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex and another to the 70-foot Apatosaurus.



We just revelled in the scene and then slowly walked back to the car promising that we would return back another weekend and explore all the trails and the entire river bed. This time we will come with swimming and camping gear, so we can start the day swimming and end it in the tent on the river bed.

Anybody interested to participate in this unique adventure travel contest??





GreatEscape2008, the around-the-world travel competition is looking for fifty globetrotting adventurers to take A Blind Date With The World™ and compete for the annual title of The World’s Greatest Travelers™.

The Global Scavenger Hunt™, scheduled for next spring can be your ticket to fulfilling a dream adventure by offering the most intrepid of global travelers a three-week around-the-world travel adventure. Travelers will race from Los Angeles to New York—the long way!

Outside magazine calls The Global Scavenger Hunt, "…one of the most amazing trips in the world."

A former participant said,"It is like Survivor, The Amazing Race and the Eco-Challenge all rolled into one except with MUCH more cultural interaction!"

A recent travel poll conducted by National Geographic Traveler/Yahoo!, found that for 2 of 3 travelers, the circumnavigation of the globe is the greatest journey left and called it the ultimate travel experience.

GreatEscape2008 offers real travelers that chance. A real adventure restricted to 50 savvy travelers who will compete in this annual travel adventure competition and international charity event that takes place between April 11 and May 4, 2008. The winning Team will be crowned The World’s Greatest Travelers in this remarkable one-of-a-kind travel event.

"GreatEscape is all about allowing real travelers to compete in a real travel adventure competition, for all the right reasons—the love of travel, trusting strangers in strange lands and giving something back to the planet," said Event Director William Chalmers announcing this years competition dates.

For three weeks, 25 Teams of two will travel the globe visiting at least 10 countries scattered across 4 continents seeking advnture and hot on the path towards victory. Teams earn points by completing a series of cultural-oriented scavenges (finding Buddha’s tooth in Sri Lanka; explaining Thai cooking flavors; visiting King Tut) and challenges (take a photo of a wild orangutan in Indonesia; enter a camel race in India; learn to belly dance in Turkey) in exotic destinations.

The event is designed to be a rally rather than a flat out race. The object is to test each Team’s ability to combat not only the inevitable jetlag, but language difficulties, cultural differences, their appetite for strange foods, logistical snafus and Team dynamics in the milieu of a well organized competition.

Aspiring contestants can be two-member teams or single travelers, should The Global Scavenger Hunt’s official website http://www.globalscavengerhunt.com/ and enter online or call 1-310-281-7809.

Travelers will be interviewed for suitability and asked to help in the events fundraising goal of raising a million dollars for charities like: KIVA, CARE, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF and Partners in Health, among others.

An entry fee of US$9,900 is payable and includes all international airfare and hotels over the 23-day event. Winners of the event will defend their The World’s Greatest Travelers™ title in the next event for free.

For further information and how to participate, please contact: Event Director: William D. Chalmers on Tel: 310.281.7809 or e-mail: 2008eventdirector@GlobalScavengerHunt.com

Working and Working out

You must be wondering what I mean by the strange title. Well I haven't done anything much except sit in the library and work on the computer, read books and browse through magazines. Yes the same library I blogged about yesterday.

What am I doing so much on the computer, you might wonder... well I blog on this and also on another site known as Instablogs Network. This is where they are trying to bring bloggers and readers together and it has an editorial policy which limits important (what they feel is important) news can be posted along with the bloggers opinion. I have been able to successfully file about 30 stories a month to the instablogs network. There have been quite a few readers, responses to the site there too. I call it my news blog and this as my personal blog. You could check it out too if you feel like it http://srinidhi.instablogs.com.

It may be a little slow in loading but, it will load nevertheless. Sometimes it just goes down and I get a message saying "Instablogs is not available at the moment, please try later". Isn't it rather strange?? I find it rather strange.

Apart from that I have been generally having a good time. Came home in the evening and hit the gym. Our apartment has a superb gym. Worked out on the treadmill, weights et al for about one hour and then went to Mary's home for the usual south Indian dinner and returned home. Not feeling sleepy I am just tinkering around on the comp, it is 12.30 am and now I think I will go to sleep.

Gotta think about doing something tomorrow.... maybe I will go to the indoor wall climbing club nearby or even better go downtown and oogle at the bikes on the road. Or maybe sit at home and read the books I have borrowed from the library. Let us see, let me sleep and wake up in the morning.

Adios amigos! see you soon.

Getting Library Membership


Yesterday I confirmed my temporary membership at the Carrollton Public Library, Texas. I am simply floored by this wonderful county library and the simplicity with which one can become a member and borrow learning resources from here.


Before I go on I would like to write a little about Carrollton, a little suburb of Dallas which sprawls across an area of 37 sq. miles and hosts a population of 120,150 (January 2007). It has about 1,200 acres of officially notified green spaces and parks. One thing impressive about the city is its vast open spaces and its sustainable development. The natural landscape and formations have been preserved very well... the creeks and springs still flow (some have drainage flowing into them), almost all roads are lined by green lawns. Minimum width of the road would be approximately about 60'. There are two public libraries and membership to one automatically provides acess to resources in the other.

Now coming back to the membership process to the Carrollton Public Library. About two weeks ago I walked in to check out some magazines and also to verify the claim of several people who had said that internet browsing is free in public libraries in US and most EU countries. Yes this library and several others in the country provide free internet access (1 hr at a time) to members. And how does one become a member? No lengthy forms to fill up, no need to get your character and identity attested or endorsed by a gazetted officer of the federal government... nothing of that sort.


Just fill in a simple form and provide an identity and local address proof and bingo, you will get an impressive looking barcoded plastic card which will give you access to the phenomenal amount of resources the library offers. Since I didn't have a local address proof on my first visit they gave me a temporary membership which allowed me internet access and reading books and other resources in the library. The library also organises regular book reading sessions, book club meetings and other activities to promote reading and learning activities among students and youth. These activities are open for general public too.


The library has a collection of 250,000 books and other resources including magazines, journals, project reports, CD-ROMs, DVDs, VHS tapes, audio tapes. A member can borrow upto 45 resources at a time and keep it for over 2 weeks without having to pay a penny. Apart from these, the library offers private study rooms which have to be booked in advance, a childrens play room, a reference section, a research center and mentoring section. Awesome, this library is free, but it is better than even the British Trade Office library in Bangalore. I don't know whether India has even one library of this standard and which offers all these facilities yet.


In India getting a library membership is a herculean task, one has to fill in forms and then get it attested by a Gazetted officer of the state or central government and then wait for our identity and antecedents to be verified before we are granted membership. And after that one can borrow only 2-3 books only from the library. The other concepts, like private study, a children's play area, etc are unheard of in India. Internet access is still alien in most government offices, and 99% of the public libraries are owned and managed by the government. When will India become like here, with over 450 million youth in the country if we don't give them access to knowlege which is available in books, we are doing them a great disservice. If you want to do charity, don't give money to poor people, buy them books.


Think about it.

Hiking Trails and a Mustang museum

Last week we were scouting where to go in flat as pancake Dallas. Wondering what to do. We decided to check out some hiking trail in Las Colinas town about 15 miles from Lewisville. Thinking it would be some interesting wilderness and tough hiking we started driving towards Las Colinas.

The Mustangs of Las Colinas is nothing but a large courtyard in front of a building where life like bronze sculptures of mustand horses have been installed. These mustangs appear as if they are running through a stream of water (fountain) and are pretty interesting. The sculptures are executed well and look realistic.

The hiking trail was nothing but a paved path through some countryside. Dallas has a lot of creeks and springs which flow throughout the year. Some of them are also fed by the city's drainage while the others are fairly clean. But the one good thing about these creeks is that there is no trash visible, there maybe drainage but it is only water, not plastics, paper or anything else. Moreover on both sides of the creek, the are is landscaped with good lawns and these are maintained pretty well. I don't know how the city's administration raises budgets for this, especially when the state government does't levy any income tax on its 4 million citizens (a few millions lesser than Bangalore's population) but Texas is several times larger than Bangalore. That perhaps explains the low real estate value and sparse population in the state. One can buy an excellent, fully furnished home for about $250,000 (Rs.1 crore) with a nice garden, sited in one of the better residential localities in suburban Dallas. But in Bangalore getting a piece of land for that price is difficult.

Coming back to the hiking trail it is just a paved path for people to walk/ bike (bicycle) and children to skate. The path passes through a nice green forest and grassland, this is what it is all about. We opted out of walking the trail and just drove back to Mary's home.

Roaming in Dallas

Have been leading quite a stagnant life since the past nearly two weeks. In Dallas, the flat-as-pancake state of US. Have been browsing about various places around here and visiting the city's main and interesting localities. There are hoardes of Spanish speaking people here. Many a time I have been mistaken to be Hispanic and addressed to in Spanish :).


One thing in the cities I have visited, I haven't seen any newspaper shops. The little shop selling odds and ends along with newspapers and magazines which is so common in Indian towns and cities is absent here. Magazines sell in all super markets while daily newspapers are sold through machines. Yes machines sell newspapers, much like the coin telephones in India. There are machines to sell water, coke and newspaper too. Here is the picture of couple of vending machines installed on pavement in a strategic location in downtown Dallas.



Last week my good friend George Dailey took me aroud downtown Dallas showing me how spaces have changed and are being managed by the city administration. George also treated me to a nice Tex-Mex lunch of cheese enchilada and rice at a cool restaurant in downtown known as Meanies. After the meal we made a beeline to Dallas downtown. Among the several landmarks we breezed past was the Dallas Museum of Art.



For the first time since entering US, I saw a railway level crossing where a train was passing through. Surprising thing is that though there is no gates like in India, fast cars, super fast bikes and even walkers and cyclists waited patiently for about 15 minutes before the train actually arrived and crossed over after it had passed. And another surprise, the train didn't blow any whistle. This was a great experience of the discipline that is followed here.




George showed me the major landmarks of Dallas including the place where former US president the flamboyant Kennedy was assasinated, the old museum, the 6th floor museum, the neighbourhood where Dick Cheney lived etc etc. One thing I noticed in US which is very similar to India, polluting creeks and rivers with drainage. There is this water stream known as Turtle Creek which flows right through the town. Authorities have made the surrounding landscape beautiful by planting lawns and builiding walkaways on either sides of the creek but then there are places where I saw huge drain pipes emptying all kinds of water into the creek. I expected better here. At leasts the water should have been treated before being let into the creek....

Anyway a unique feature of this creek is the round dam.. what is this? George said that he would show me a dam that I would have never seen anything similar in my life. I was intrigued and curious. Then he pulled over and showed me this unique well-like round shaped dam. What they have done is to make the creek accumulate at one point and then flow under a bridge they have built a wall and made a lake kind of feature. Then in the middle is a round well like contruction which leads across the bridge into the creek. A unique dam never seen such a feature anywhere during my travels.


Then we went back to downtown where we visited the giant cowboy sculpture. In the middle of a park near the Dallas Convention Center, is installed a life size bronze sculpture series of a herd of cattle being herded by two horse borne cowboys. The sculptures are so well executed and life like it makes a pleasant picture of how life in Texas was before development and industry came into fore.


Here are some pictures of the cowboy memorial.