The year that was.......

It has been a long time since my last post. Lots of things that I would like to write about have happened since then. So I have decided to write this one big summary post that covers the interesting happenings during the time that my blog was dormant. After this post I hope to make small and regular posts. So bear with me for this one massive post; a blast from the not so distant past if you will!

During my undergraduate studies in NZ, my friends and me would often think of going on a joint trip to India; but it never worked out. As we all completed our degrees, started working and followed our different paths, the idea started being proposed as a sort of reunion! It finally came to fruition (sort of) when three of my friends (Sunil, Vinod and Krish) decided to have a Thailand/India holiday! Four good friends having a great time traveling around India was too good for me to miss. So I decided to join them in India since I was going to go to India for the winter break anyway! We started off in Bangalore and Mysore, spent a couple of days in Goa (including New Years eve), after which we went to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur! It was a great trip with many classic moments which I will remember forever. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Dusk at the KRS dam in Mysore (Vinod and Sunil L-R)

Calangute and Baga beaches (Goa) during peak season

Sunset at Baga beach

All of us on the banks of the Mandovi river in Panaji (Goa) (Sunil, Random Guy, Krish and Vinod L-R)

Road to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan (President's Residence) in New Delhi

The same road goes to India Gate in the opposite direction.

Prime Minister's Office (PMO)

India Gate

Going towards Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE)

Chandni Chowk, the hub of Old Delhi.

Red Fort

Agra Fort

One of the many palaces inside the Agra Fort

A small segmet of the Agra Fort wall.

Looking towards the Taj Mahal from Agra Fort

Inside Agra Fort

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal and its reflection in its fountain

In front of the Taj Mahal

The stage where Tansen used to deliver is magical ragas (Fatehput Sikri)

The central column in the Diwan i Khas (hall of private audience) where Akbar held meetings with his ministers.

The elephant graveyard where Akbar's favorite elephant was buried

One of the wall columns at the astrologer's seat

Panch Mahal

Driving through Jaipur

One of the many camel carts in Rajastan

Firing the cannons in the City Fort of Jaipur

The summer door inside the City Fort

Inside the City Fort

Inside the City Fort

One of the marble elephants inside the City Fort

Snake Charmer inside the City Fort

Amber Fort

Inside Amber Fort

Pigeons flying above Amber Fort

At the base of Amber Fort

When I got back to Chambana (short for Urbana-Champaign), it was peak winter and boy was it cold!! Its not too bad though, you just start wearing lots of layers when you go outside and all the buildings are centrally heated. The best part of freezing cold weather is snowfall! I just love it because I have not experienced much of it. My love for snow grew even greater when we had record snowfall and all classes were canceled for two days (for the first time in 30 something years)! Of course no one heeded to the 'stay indoors' advice. So there were quite a few snoball fights etc basically lots of fun in the snow! Here are a few pics (courtesy Kevin):






















Well, this summary post is getting a bit too long so I am going to abandon the thought of making it one post and distribute it over a couple of posts. So watch out for Vancouver, Google Games and On the Rocks in the coming posts!