A TRIP TO BAKKHALI

Bakkhali, a wonderful place to spend a quiet weekend, is about 132 kms from Kolkata. It is one of the many deltaic islands spread across Southern Bengal. Reaching there is absolutely no problem, as it is only about 3 hours drive from Kolkata – Esplanade. One can also take the State Govt buses from Esplanade, which charges barely Rs.70/- and take around 4 hours. The route is via Diamond Harbour Road.

My suggestion would be to take car, because en route you would feel like stopping at several places inventing many excuses, but primarily to absorb the ambiance that Diamond Harbour offers. The buses leave at 7:15 AM and 8:15 AM and go directly to Bakkhali. If you miss those buses, you could board one of the buses for Namkhana, cross the Hatania-Doania creek in a special ferry.

The next stretch of the journey is very smooth, with an excellent road leading to Bakkhali.

There are many hotels to put up at Bakkhali. Though advanced booking is always desirable, even the ones without reservations, find adequate accommodations. We stayed at Bay View Tourist Lodge.
The hotel looks splendid at night too.
My close friend, Sayan accompanied us in our trip to Bakkhali...

and when we reached there, he couldn’t wait to get a feel of the water. He waded in straight

The ashen beach was wonderful….

With red crabs everywhere…………
Parna was happy too………

There is hardly much else to see in Bakkhali. The only mode of conveyance is the rickshaw van. The enterprising rickshaw pullers take tourist to see the different places. One such place is the Henry Island Project – a fish cultivation project of the State Government.

There are 162 ponds which make up this fish farm. A couple of shots from a tower ……………

And now the tower itself………………

The gentle waves rolling …………

The day was coming to a close and the sunset was splendid beyond the trees……… And we watched India lose to Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup and thereby face an early exit from the Championship.

At the beach in the next morning, shot a few sunrise pictures………. This one turned out well

Later we took a ride in a crude bhut-bhuti, a motorised country boat, from Frasergunj Fishing Harbour to Jambu Dwip, a small, uninhabited and forested island out in the sea. It was a thrilling experience.

Sayan was lost in thought during the journey………….

Well, I knew well to shut up and enjoy the view.

Parna landed at Jambu Dwip and was pretty excited…………

With the red crabs…………

And the windmills at distant Frasergange were a mere speck, but not for my camera………….We returned on the same day starting in the afternoon and reaching home by evening.

Some more memorable shots from bakkhali………..

Life Boat

The fishermen

Bakkhali

Parna and I went to Bakkhali for a weekend trip and enjoyed our time over there.
Would soon post the pics from Bakkhali. Here's for starters:

AND SOME FLOWERS

Here are some pictures of flowers.

MY FAVOURITE TAJ MAHAL PICS

These are the two pics of the Taj Mahal, Agra that I love the most.

Reader comments are welcome.

Long time, no flower

IMG_0789
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

Have been lazy for most of the time.

But here I am, presenting a beautiful flower for your viewing pleasure.

A Scene from a chess tournament in Kolkata

Table 1 Round 6
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

A picture from the Grandmaster Tournament held at Gorky Sadan, Kolkata.

India Face Exit in the ICC World Cup 2007

What a disgrace? Shameful.

India is virtually out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 after their second loss in the preliminary round robin league phase. The first loss cam against the relative minnows Bangladesh, and yesterday the Indian team took the thrashing meted out by the Sri Lankans. India lost by 69 runs, getting nowhere close to the target and not giving any fight at all. Lame losers.

And now the team that was the runner up last time around, will not even feature in the top 8. What curse has befallen this erstwhile cricketing glory?????

Curse or not, Greg Chappel has to answer a few questions and whatever the answers he needs to be sacked immediately. Immediately. Many of the fans were vocal against his experiments throughout the last 2 years, but a far greater number was willing to take a chance, with a hope to win the World Cup. Greg kept on saying that he was focusing long term, and had the World Cup in sight. And what has he given in the World Cup? A first round exit to the last time runner up???????

Chappel got into controversy with Sourav Ganguly, universally acclaimed to be the best all time captain of India, and also the most aggressive, in Zimbabwe, and pulled many ropes to axe the glorius Sourav out of the team. To win the World Cup?

Irfan Pathan became a prolific batsman under Guru Greg’s motivation and hawk eyes, to win the World Cup! How many matches was he fit to play in the World Cup? He cannot even feature in the first XI. And he was such a good swing bowler. Greg wasted him.

Under Greg’s patronage, Dravid tried to play the role of the schemer. All his schemes well anticipated by almost all the oppositions and falling flat in most occasions. His on field captaincy was horrible and he never seemed to inspire any one to do anything much, forget about anything extra. Absolutely no aggression, no feeling for the team, just robotically changing the bowlers. And what was he doing batting so low down the order? His 60 in the match against Sri Lanka would have been more meaningful at no.3. So what was he doing so low down? Making room for buddy Virendra Sehwag. Viru, of all people has been off form throughout the last one year but has only been dropped for a couple of matches. He should be dropped forever, if Sourav could have been dropped for almost 10 months.

I am afraid, changes are required. Bold ones at that. But will Vengsarkar be the strong man he is rumored to be?

Greg must be sent packing to Australia straight from the Carribean Islands. For security reasons, at least. Dravid, as a captain, should be sacked immediately. Sehwag dropped for at least a couple of series, during which he could try county or domestic cricket and regin his form and fitness and in the interlude lose at least 10 kgs. Sachin must retire. If he doesn’t, he should be dropped. The reins of the team should be passed on back to Sourav and Yuvraj should be his deputy, and should be groomed to handle the reins by the end of this year, when most probably Sourav retires. It should be mandatory for the selectors to select the highest and second highest run getters and wicket takers in the Ranji matches, into the national side. Dhoni should be asked to get himself a haircut for a month in Ranchi and Kaartick can keep the stumps for while.

Their combined effort has stunned the millions of fans across the globe. Hoever, the chances of India qualifying into the next round is only academic. Bermuda must defeat Bangladesh by a good margin. I see no probability there. But my heart wants that to happen. What a shame, the fate of Indian cricket to be decided in a match between Bangladesh and Bermuda. Isssssssssssssh!

Holi

Holi
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

This is the before shot. We started out after this shot. And u can well see what happened next. Check out the following two entries to get the clear picture.lol

Holi

Holi
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

Happy and satisfied!!!!!!!!

Holi

Holi
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

This year Holi was fun

The Other Teams

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Brad Hodge, Shane Watson, Andrew Symonds, Brad Haddin, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath.

England: Michael Vaughan (captain), Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, Jamie Dalrymple, Ed Joyce, Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Monty Panesar, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson.

Pakistan: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Rao Iftikhar, Rana Naved, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara.Reserves: Chamara Kapugedera, Akalanka Ganegama, Upul Chandana, Ruchira Perera

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey, Shane Bond, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Michael Mason, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent.

West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Denesh Ramdin, Devon Smith, Lendl Simmons, Daren Powell, Kieron Pollard.

South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis, Loots Bosman, Mark Boucher (wicketkeeper), AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Roger Telemachus.

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Tapash Baishya, Syed Rasel, Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar.

Zimbabwe: Prosper Utseya (captain), Gary Brent, Justice Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Terry Duffin, Anthony Ireland, Friday Kasteni, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Edward Rainsford, Vusi Sibanda, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams.

Kenya: Steve Tikolo (captain), Thomas Odoyo (vice-captain), Ravindu Shah, Tanmay Mishra, Collins Obuya, Peter Ongondo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Maurice Ouma, Malhar Patel, Hiren Varaiya, David Obuya (wicketkeeper), Rajesh Bhudia, Jimmy Kamande, Tony Suji, Lameck Onyango.

Netherlands: Luuk van Troost (captain), B Zuiderent, Adeel Raja, P Borren, T de Leede, M Jonkman, A Kervezee, Mohammad Kashif, D Reekers, E Schiferli, J Smits (wicketkeeper), W Stelling, E Szwarczynski, R ten Doeschate, D van Bunge.

Scotland: Craig Wright (captain), Ryan Watson (vice-captain) John Blain, Dougie Brown, Gavin Hamilton, Majid Haq, Paul Hoffmann, Douglas Lockhart Ross Lyons, Neil McCallum, Dewald Nel, Navdeep Poonia, Glenn Rogers, Colin Smith, Fraser Watts.

Bermuda: Irving Romaine (captain), Dean Minors (vice-captain), Delyone Borden, Lionel Cann, David Hemp, Kevin Hurdle, Malachi Jones, Stefan Kelly, Dwayne Leverock, Saleem Mukuddem, Stephen Outerbridge, Oliver Pitcher, Clay Smith, Janeiro Tucker, Kwame Tucker.

Ireland: Trent Johnston (captain), W McCallan, A Botha, J Bray, K Carroll, P Gillespie, D Langford-Smith, J Mooney, P Mooney, E Morgan, K O'Brien, N O'Brien (wicketkeeper), W Porterfield, W Rankin, A White.

Canada: John Davison (captain), Ashish Bagai, Ian Billcliff, Geoff Barnett, Kevin Sandher, Umar Bhatti, Desmond Chumney, George Codrington, Austin Codrington, Andy Cummins, Sunil Dhaniram, Asif Mulla, Henry Osinde, Abdool Samad, Qaiser Ali.

Indian Team for Cricket World Cup 2007

Quite some delay in my blog updates. Sorry.

I believe the next month will see a lot many blogs on Cricket with the Circket World Cup being fought out in the Carribean Islands.

The Indian Team was announced some time back, and I was really happy with the selections. The former Indian captain, Dilip Vengsarkar has carried on with his strong personality and assertiveness. Of course, the first instance of this quality came to the fore when he recalled the greatest Indian captain of all time and one of the most prolific cricketers in one day cricket - SOURAV GANGULY.

Sourav had fallen out of favor with the current coach Greg Chappell since the Zimbabwe tour more than a year back. And the then Chairman of the Selection Committee, Kiran More, after having come to a conflict much earlier on the Abhijit Kale episode, was more than happy and eager to keep Sourav out. Thankfully, More is gone and the onus to save Indian Cricket now lies with a batting legend in India - Vengsarkar.

The team he chose as the Chairman of the Selection Committee comprises

Batsmen: Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar (vice-captain), Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh.

All-rounders: Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan.

Wicketkeepers: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik.

Bowlers: Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.


To be very honest, the inclusion of Sehwag and Pathan will face careful dissection. Both of them have been awfully out of form. Whereas Sehwag has been fishing in the corridor outside the off stump and making a clear mess of short pitched and rising deliveries, Pathan has been looking for the right line and length for a greater part of the season. Of course, he has become more useful as a batsman. But let us face it, we have better batters than Pathan. All we can hope for now, that this duo will break the shackles of poor form and rise to the occasion in the mega event - the World Cup.

Tiger

William Blake. 1757–1827

The Tiger

TIGER, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?


In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?


And what shoulder and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand and what dread feet?


What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?


When the stars threw down their spears,

And water'd heaven with their tears,

Did He smile His work to see?

Did He who made the lamb make thee?


Tiger, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

The Thinker

Quite a thinker I found in the zoo today.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

This is not one of my clicked pictures, but i liked this one very much and wanted to use it to wish all my friends A VERY HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

Dev Brat's Marriage

My dear friend Dev Brat got married yesterday. Here are two pictures. Dev Brat is looking cool and the bride is looking absolutely gorgeous. Great couple. Congrats!!!!

The Pictures from NSC 2007

National Sudoku Championship 2007 Kolkata Round

TOI presents NSC 07
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

Wow! What an event! Awesome!

Unfortunately, though, I didn’t make the cut. It was pretty interesting, the Kolkata round of the National Sudoku Championship. The 1230 participants were divided into three groups of approximately 410 participants in each group. I was placed in Group A.

The first round comprised three puzzles. In this set, one had to first solve a diagonal sudoku and transfer four digits in the same position in the given classic sudoku. Upon solving the classic sudoku, one would have to transfer four digits in the same position in the given irregular sudoku and then solve the irregular sudoku to obtain four digits marked A, B, C and D. Interesting!

But there was a catch. All of it was to be done in just 55 minutes. Quite challenging.

I was through with the first two sudokus in the first 25 minutes; however, the Irregular Sudoku killed me. I was almost done, but time was up and I was out of the competition.

Some 50 contestants fought on the whole day and finally the top eleven were identified. They won a music system and a watch each and most importantly tickets to participate in the National Meet in Mumbai next month. I wish them all, all the very best.

Next time, I will fight again, and hope to do much better. Till then have a look at these images.

Book Fair 2007

I love reading books, all kinds of them. And the Kolkata Book Fair in the last week of January and the first week of February is probably one of those events that we Kolkatabashis look forward to; most eagerly waiting for the event of the year. An event that is more of a festival for book lovers from and around Kolkata than merely a fair.

It is traditionally held at the Kolkata Maidan, but now there is a problem. The so-called and self-proclaimed environmentalists have somehow reached the conclusion that holding a fair, a book fair at that degrades the environment around the Maidan, the heart of Kolkata.

Numerous frivolous Public Interest Litigations (PILs), further burdening our already overburdened justice delivery system, are raging in the Kolkata High Court, some seeking permission and no objection from the High Court and some others seeking a preventive order. The Kolkata High Court itself has decided that is has minimum locus standi in this regard, whereas the Indian Army, being the caretaker of the Maidan, will have to decide whether to allow the fair or not on the grounds. The extent of jurisdiction, as of now, of the Kolkata High Court is to check and minimize pollution.

Since the passing of this order, other PILs have been lodged alleging that the Book Fair, if held at Maidan will lead to various kinds of pollution in the very heart of the city. I agree. And totally so.

The same proponents, however, are willing to let the fair to be held some other place. Just like saying, let the gangrene set in the foot but please spare the heart.

The solution to the problem does not lie in relocating the fair, but in controlling the extent of pollution. Adequate safety measures and consciousness about pollution among the visitors is probably one very good way to control pollution. Come to think of it, such a solution can work wonders for a major metropolitan anywhere in the world. People should be conscious about their immediate environment, pollution and what harm is brought upon environment everyday by us. The picture of future will definitely not be a rosy one. People need to be educated in terms of being able to minimize pollution of all kinds.

Obviously, the role of the State and Central Governments in this regard is very significant. They must play a major role in educating the citizens and providing the right infrastructural support so as to actually achieve the goal of having a much greener city.

O and please involve those people who lodge those PILs. They love the environment and would love to do some 200 hours community service.

But the Governments should also take note of this situation. There is no place in Kolkata where a major fair can be held. Many fairs are held at Netaji Indoor Stadium, but they are usually of a much smaller scale. A new stadium or fair complex needs to be developed not far from the heart of the city (which is most easily accessible from all parts of the city), for the sole use of fairs. Till then control pollution, but let’s go to Maidan for the Book Fair 2007.

Press - Us Bloggers

In the last one year, blogging has caught on with many netizens. So much so that TIME magazine made YOU (bloggers) the Man of the Year. From writing a diary to actually interacting with the world, venting emotions and opinions, blogging has changed internet usage into a more meaningful avenue. Kudos!

One big source of information and news stories and their follow up is better conducted through blogs, blogs have touched our lives, if not changed them altogether. To top it all it enables learners to educate themselves and everyone to showcase their creativity.

Just the other day I was reading a couple’s blog, and how they are fighting cancer, and how their readers have stood by them giving strength and courage.

Another recent happening that has particular significance for bloggers is that for the first time ever, bloggers have been granted press credentials by a federal court in the USA.

An excerpt from another blog

"The Washington Post reports that, for the upcoming trial of Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, bloggers have for the first time been granted press credentials by a federal court. Sayeth the article:
When the trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice opens next week, scores of journalists are expected to throng the federal courtroom in Washington, far too many for the 100 seats set aside for the media.
But for the first time in a federal court, two of these seats will be reserved for bloggers. After two years of negotiations with judicial officials across the country, the Media Bloggers Association, a nonpartisan group with about 1,000 members working to extend the powers of the press to bloggers, has won credentials to rotate among his members. The trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the highest-ranking Bush administration official to face criminal charges, could "catalyze" the association's efforts to win respect and access for bloggers in federal and state courthouses, said Robert Cox, the association's president.
[....]
"Bloggers can bring a depth of reporting that some traditional media organizations aren't able to achieve because of space and time limitations," said Sheldon Snook, administrative assistant to Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan. Snook added that some bloggers also bring expertise that is welcome in court.”
(Copyright of the original writer, link given below)

Read here

When will we, in India, get such opportunities?

Love Flowers II

IMG_0739
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

More flowers clicked by me in Macro mode

Love Flowers

IMG_0582
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

The Eden Gardens in Kolkata have remained closed for the last two years. This has been painful for flower lovers who would usually look forward to the winter flower show at the Eden Gardens.

I would earnest urge the West Bengal Government to take some proactive steps to reopen the Gardens as soon as possible.

In the meantime, thanks to the Forest Department which has decided to beautify the city with flowers.

National Sudoku Championship 2007

I am very happy to have qualified to participate in the National Sudoku Championship 2007 for its Kolkata Regional Round organized by QUIXY and The Times of India. The regional rounds started with a qualifier on Saturday, 13th January. Four puzzles were listed and the readers were to solve these puzzles and send their answers either through email or call up their call center number.

Whereas the first three puzzles were relatively easy, the fourth one was a rather difficult one. With 75 points at stake I had spent more an hour to finally be able to solve it. Or so I thought.

And today in the morning when I received their call confirming my entry I was so happy. In fact my happiness was doubled when they also informed me that I had solved all four puzzles correctly thereby scoring a maximum possible – 160. 160 out of 160 is cool. Does an awful lot to inflate my ego. LOL

Anyways, I am heading for the Science City, Kolkata on next Sunday to participate in the regional final. I would very much like my friends to wish me luck so that I can do well and qualify for the National Championship to be held in Mumbai.

PS: If anyone is interested in solving sudoku puzzles on their computers, please write to me for some cool softwares.

Experimenting

Copy of IMG_0362.psd
Originally uploaded by ranjansaras.

Experiment - transfer of pictures/images from Flickr.com