Explorer

Friday was marked by rains;here in Pune.The rains started poring a little after 8:30pm which continued till the next Saturday morning. The grass smelled fresh after the rains & the atmosphere in general was very pleasant.Though sitting at home all day,I clicked some photos.The subjects are varied;as I was trying out things with my camera. Here are the snaps. Since the monsoon is here.. I'm planning for the monsoon treks.I'm hoping that this season will be exciting as ever. Cheers, ~MJ

Monsoon treks are always a delight. Sahyadris are at their beautiful best in the monsoons. This year though the monsoons have been late in coming. I decided to go for the Tringalwadi trek almost at the Last moment. I called up Vinay, the trek lead to check whether I could be accommodated. To my surprise, I could join the trek. We were a group of 28 people. After catching the Tapovan Express at 6:48am we landed at Igatpuri at about 9:30 am in the morning. After having our Breakfast in the local udipi hotel we started the trek towards the Tringalwadi village after taking directions from the hotelwala. After passing through the Wagh Khind the route we took traversed several village farmlands. We kept on asking the passerby’s for directions. Outskirts of the village we saw a small snake probably a hatchling. From the Tringalwadi village we were guided by a localite to the top. We started out by moving towards the PandavLeni. We met a group of trekkers there who assured us that the fort top...

Making others laugh is difficult.But pointing the shortcomings while making them laugh is much more difficult. That's what cartoonists do and I respect them for that.There is no derth of cartoonists in India & Maharashtra has its share of notable ones. All of you must be knowing S.D.Phadnis,Vikas Sabnis,Vasant Saravte to some extent Balasaheb Thakare & Raj Thakare too... We have been meeting all of these all these years through various dailies,weeklies, Bi-monthlies,Newspapers..etc. From Saturday another notable cartoonist held his cartooning exhibition,marking the Landmark of holding 50 Exhibitions of his cartoons.This cartoonist was Mangesh Tendulkar. You would have seen his caroons in the prestigious Dailies likes Times of India or the marathi daily Sakal or even a lot of magazines. Notable among them is Awaz.His first cartoon was published in 1954 by Sakal and the cartoonist is still going on. I had the honour of visting his exhibition that was held in Balgandharva Gall...

Again a movie with an intresting Star Cast; Russell Crowe,Ben Affleck,Rachel McAdams,Helen Mirren to name a few.Its is an American Political Thriller adapted from a British 6 part series of the same name.The movie is Directed by Kevin McDonald. Russell Crowe plays the part of the reporter Cal McAffrey .Ben Affleck plays the part of politician/ Congressman Stephen Collins. Crowe has portrayed his character as a street smart reporter & an old school reporter who is after the absolute truth.Helen Mirren is cast as the ruthless editor... who is constantly after Cal for deadlines. She is solid, strong, showing the other person about who is in control... Helen had played her part beautifully... Its a treat to watch her. She has worked in the movie "Devil Wears Prada".But that image does not get carried over to this movie.Instead she has portrayed a very different character for the plot. The movie is about a journalist's investigation in to death of a congressman's mist...

Going home on Weekends or any consequitive holidays means meeting friends,relatives acquaintances & most important catching up with some movies. Usually I watch action movies or comedy or sometimes any recommendations or anything that goes with a good message and less on sexual content. One of the movies I watched was Vantage Point. I was unaware of an such movie untill the weekend I went home. Here is a rundown on the movie. Vantage Point(2008) is basically an American Thriller starring Dennis Quaid,Forest Whitaker,Matthew Fox. Vantage Point according to the Dictionary means "A position that affords a broad overall view or perspective, as of a place or situation". The film's screenplay deals with the assasination of the American President from different Viewpoints.The Viewpoints shown are that of the 1. GNN News Producer - Rex Brooks (portrayed by Sigourney Weaver) 2. Secret Service Agent - Thomas Barnes (portrayed by Dennis Quaid) 3. Spanish police officer assigned ...

365 Journal Entries: Sketch blogs

Sinhagad is one of the forts without a visit to that my pune visit is never complete. Sinhagad is situated outskirts of pune and is suitable for a one day trek.It provides much needed training for people training to trek the himalayas.It provides the needed start for novices and freshers in the area of trekking.As for me it is a matter or thrill to trek up and down sinhagad,not to mention the yummy zhunka-bhakar,vangyacha bharit and the taak and dahi u get there along with kanda bhaji ani thecha. Well Sunday was spent on trek to sinhagad.Of all the siblings,four of us decided to trek to the fort while two of them decided reach there by Car.And so began our trek at 10:30 in the morning after a snack of yummy kande pohe and vadapaav at the base.I have to admit that after all these months sinhagad trek was really hard for me to complete. after starting so late in the morning we were puffing and panting but half-way up nevertheless in about an hour(according to my speed ...