A Late Post, But Sinhagad With College Friends, Bike And Hike

Terrain, Google Maps.

So, thanks to Facebook, we came to know about a cycle ride to Lavasa and a couple of friends and I were interested in going. One of us three (Vatsal), is already a pro cyclist and a runner in top form completing marathons after marathons.

I spoke to a dear friend of mine, Kaustubh, who studies at Hyderabad and told him about our plan. He warned me it was pretty difficult. He told me it was roughly twice the difficulty level of going to Sinhagad by cycle. Sure, the one way distance seems just 57 kilometres approximately, but the last ghat is the one that most cyclists fear. Both, upstream and downstream :P, for obvious reasons.

So, I proposed we try going to Sinhagad, and check how we fare there on cycle and then think about Lavasa. However, Vatsal was convinced he was going for Lavasa and we respected his call. So, the plan was made and Yash and I decided to go to Sinhagad by cycle. Rest of my friends decided to drive to the base camp by scooter.

So, we decided to leave at 4:30 AM, since we would be cycling. Yash, came over to my place for the night before and we slept considerably late. Around 00:15. And I'm impressed we were out at 4:48 AM. Hormones are an amusing substances I think. They get you high and pumped when it's time. On a normal day, I won't be able to wake up at 6;00 AM even on sleeping at 10:00 PM but being up at 4:20 AM and out the door shortly was an amazing feeling.

Ignore the estimated time. It is the traffic during the day.

It was pretty dark we thought. The society street lamps were misleading indicators. We both had small lights mounted on our bikes. I had a Btwinn Vio, tail lamp on the blinker mode and a white light on my handlebar ahead. It was hardly bright. I gave Yash my other light and it was considerably brighter. We had to cover a distance of 28 kilometeres and we were pumped. It was my new Merida's first big ride afterall.

We decided to go via Warje. It was pretty cold. Around 17 degree celsius at nearly 5 in the morning.

The main road, Karve Road was decently light. Activities on the road were a minimum too. Early to rise paper and milk distribution teams were getting ready on various corners of the main road. We were smoothly cruising at nearly 25-30 km/h on the main roads. Yash was on his Mountain Bike, Fuji Nevada, a 27 inch wheel rough and tough mountian bike while I was using my Hybrid Merida Crossway, with 28 inch wheels.

We both had our Strava applications on and were tracking our ride. As we entered Warje Village, I began getting a sense of the gradient that we had never experienced whilst driving to our farmhouse from the very same road. So, cycling does indeed give you a feel of the road in true sense.

Then, as we crossed Warje village, the lights totally went out. Not that there were too many cars on the road, but there were civilians on their morning walks, vegetable vendors offloading their produce and even small kids around. We had our White Lights on but the road was a mystery to us. We couldn't see the tarmac so the potholes on the road were another story altogether. I was periodically using the Hydraulic Lockout option on my fork but I advise keeping the fork unlocked when you don't know the road in front of you. The sudden pothole makes you jump off your seat :P, for all the wrong reasons.

The apt way to summarize it for a guy : If you don't have a gel pant or a gel seat cover for your saddle or both, you'd be playing ping pong with your seat, almost every now and then throughout the journey.

ISO 1250 can't lighten this up either.

We then crossed Shivane and Uttam Nagar at a steady speed. The roads were pretty smooth as we started touching NDA Road and we were cruising. We had to take a right towards the bridge across Mutha River and that would connect us to Sinhagad Road. A visit on google just told me it was the Kudje Khadakvasala Link Road. We spotted the intersection in good time and took a left but it was totally dark. The darkest I've ever seen a road. This is how it nearly was. I'm pretty sure Yash won't deny as I was trailing him.

Link Road, Camera FLASH on.

The road was flanked by trees on both sides and it was peacefully scary. We kept on going until we were on a bridge that took us acorss the river and the magnificent Khadakvasala dam was on our right. We didn't stop for photographs but it was a grand sight.

The Sky, ISO 1250, 

We even passed a cemetery on the way to add to the horror early morning. And then, we were on the other side. We stopped by the road to have a quick status update on our phones and we were staring at the backwaters of Khadakvasala.

The road and our surroundings were a spooky feeling, but the sky was A MASTERSTROKE. It was a sight to behold. A sight to sleep and stare it. The perfect stargazing sky. We weren't carrying professional cameras but I made a modest attempt at trying to capture the beauty of the sky. It was 100 times brighter and elegantly lit than my picture portrays.

First halt. That's Yash. Fuji (R) and Merida (L). Say hi.

Then, we met our gang who had reached on their Scooters. They took the lead from that point and would wait at the base camp. So, Strava has a feature called Auto Pause. And Auto Resume. However, even after cycling for another 8 kilometers, Strava was still paused for me. A moment that made me want to throw away my phone but Yash's phone wasn't acting up, so that helped me stay sane.

Wonder why I'm so affected by silly things like electronic gadgets with a magical probability to fail any moment. So, moving on, we reached the base and took a call to cycle up the Ghat to the fort Sinhagad. We were pretty tired, Yash and I and were considering climbing till the top. However, the thought of parking my 4 day old cycle was daunting and I didn't want to do it. Yash accompanied me and we decided to cycle up the 10 km slope.

The curve with the benches. Scenic turn. 

The light had touched the foothills and Yash had hoped to see the sunset at Sinhagad, but we were late. Even our scooter buddies were :P. However, we did manage to see the sun rise to it's glory whilst cycling to the top.

A mini solar glare right below the sun.

The ghat was incredibly tough. But, I don't want to get to the climax just as yet. We kept on going until one of us wanted to rest. We decided to keep walking or cycling till we could. We reached a spot with benches and a great view and stopped there within minutes of our climb to the top. We got moving in another 5 minutes.

And within minutes, I knew Lavasa was a long shot for me. Handling the Sinhagad ghat was turning out to be a nightmare for me.

We stopped at a point to capture the sunset.

Stud on the lookout.

The view was phenomenal as we started climbing higher and higher, getting tired and tired, yet gaining potential energy. Yash and I kept reassuring ourselves, we were getting closer and closer. Google Maps was helping us give an estimate of the distance we had to ride.

The road uphill was steep, rocky and proving to be a test for even gasoline engines. But we were moving anyway. Don't ask how :P, yet. So, in the end, after an uphill journey where we majorly walked, we reached Sinhagad.

Carrying the cycles over flights of stairs.

The parking lot had a lot of tourist vehicles, and only a few cyclists. We had chosen the tougher task of riding uphill while our friends were climbing up. We expected them to reach before us, but, it so turned out that we made it to the top, nearly at the same time. We beat them to it perhaps :P. We could attribute the slow hiking time to being out of exercise. It turned out that Vatsal was climbing with a kilogram weight on each of his ankle and that was a clear indicator of his fitness and strength.

We decided to walk around the fort, but parking our cycles wasn't an option we would even remotely consider. So, we initially carried the cycle. Disclaimer : We - Vatsal and Yash since my shoulders aren't very mighty.

Spot the trail :P. Yes, there's a cycle trail amidst these bushes.

The stairs were atleast 17cm in height and very rugged indeed. I was pretty comfortable when the cycles were in air.

Parth, Chandana, Twinkle, Nupura, Yash, Me, Vatsal, Maitreyi

However, after a while, Vatsal and Yash decided to ride them down the stairs and I almost flinched. I probably didn't tell them, but I was minor level worried. The worry when someone has your brand new phone without a case. The worry when someone holds a laptop by the lid. That kind. Well, since Merida was only a few days old, and a Hybrid, I was initially freaking out. However, they were pretty confident the cycles had it in them.

We visited a famous spot called the 'Vaara (Wind) Point' popularly or the Tanaji Kada, I think, and we ended up taking lot of pictures disturbing the privacy of a couple of couples and families :P. So much fun.

Builder xD

Almost forgot. For the uninitiated, Sinhagad is home to literally dozens of भजी , ताक , दही , काकडी , करवंद , कैरी , आवळा vendors. And, almost everyone wants you to eat at their hut. Everyone makes the nicest offers. Everyone runs to you. "मी छान चटई घालून देतो तुम्हाला. गरम गरम बटाटा भजी घ्या ना पोरांनो !"

Why ride a bike when you can carry it!

We had committed ourselves to a vendor for few of the above commodities and so, dodging and evading the rest of the friendly folks, we found our way to a hut where a table was already laid out for us.

We ate decently and started heading towards the parking lot. We had decided to stop for curd and buttermilk at an old lady who recognised me from last time.

The dahi offered in earthen pots. Fresh, and soft indeed.

Parth loving the dahi!

So, after we were done munching, we decided to head down. I was under the serious impression going downhill would be pure fun and that it would be the best thing ever.

Well, losing PE is an amazing feeling, but the rate at which KE enters our cycles is scary. We could maybe even have touched a 90 km/h had the road been straight downhill! The road was obviously rocky, and we soon realized downhill was no pushover. We had to brake. Pedalling was out of question. Our gears were locked to their highest ratio. 8x3 and 9x3. Our forks were unlocked. It was very scary. A wrong maneuver and we could have been at the bottom of the valley!

The curve.

Yash was leading the way and the moment he applied his rear brake, the wheel skid and the cycle drifted. This was scary to watch and all that I saw ahead freaked me out even further. We even made a micro pit stop and adjusted the tension of his brake calliper.

The turns were almost blind. Speeding was a desire we couldn't afford. Cars weren't keeping in their lanes. We were going considerably slow, but even with the utmost caution, Yash slipped on a curve as a Swift wasn't in its lane and the speed was too much for even the finest pair of disc brakes.

I quickly jumped off my bike and ran towards Yash. He was bruised but his track pants prevented deep scraping. He was pretty shocked post the incident, and I was an eye witness right behind him. I probably never told him, but I was scared. I saw his wheel skid and also saw him fall off his bike. Luckily, his cycle was undamaged thanks to a pedal and he wasn't gravely injured too.

Merida.

We weren't carrying a first aid kit. And we decided we should. Helmets, also a strict must, though I was wearing mine that day. Then, finally, the ghat was over. We made it down in great time though the very tiring aspect of the entire journey made us lose track of our Strava data. However, the moment I was home, it didn't matter to me anymore.

We weren't running a race. We had decided to go have fun whilst also testing our strength against the mighty Sinhagad, and I sure knew I wasn't strong enough.

We decided we would get regular, practice harder and finally conquer a lot more terrains. We witnessed a beautiful sky, an adrenalant ride and touched the heart of Maharashtra on two wheels, and we aren't gonna stop anytime soon ;)

Reviewing The JBL Mini BT Reflect

The struggle to find the perfect fitting and sounding earbuds was almost seeming unending for me until I finally got my hands on the JBL Mini BT Reflect Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds.

For the uninitiated, I've been trying the following earbuds for the past couple of months.

1) Jaybird X2 Bluetooth Earphones
2) RHA MA 600 Earphones - Wired
3) Samsung S7 Stock Earphones
4) Apple Earpods

So, having tried all of the above, I didn't find the right fit anywhere. They all sounded really good. But, they couldn't stay in the way they are expected to.

I don't blame the buds, but term my own ear canals or ear shape slightly variable. So, yeah, they didn't FIT, to say the least.

The JBL Mini BT Reflect was out of stock on the Indian JBL and Harman Sites for like eternity. It was out of stock on so many online portals like Amazon, Flipkart and even Snapdeal, which I barely use.

I had almost lost hope, but found the earphones on Tata CLIQ, a portal I never thought I'd use. Found both the Blue and Red Variants in stock for Rs. 5999.

The order was placed for a blue bud and the order went to CROMA Surprisingly. So, after a long wait, due to logistical issues thanks to Diwali, received my earphones 2 weeks back and have been trying them on ever since.

UNBOXING Experience :
The box was pretty neat. The earphones were already wearing the Medium SPORT buds. Two  other options are bundled. A Small Sport fit and a regular fit. Medium is my size and decided to try the sport fin first.

My earbuds were already precharged but I don't know how much. I could instantly pair it with my Galaxy S7 and get a feel of the JBL Legacy Sound as they call it.

Pairing : Pairing is a breeze. And it connects within 2 seconds with already paired devices. I've tried the device with around 4-5 phones and they pair pretty rapidly each time.

The bluetooth range is pretty remarkable and I could listen to crackle free audio with my phone kept away around 20 ft. Bluetooth audio cracks when penetrating walls and so that's not recommended.

One peculiar thing is an annoying pause of a second when I took the earbuds for a run with the phone in my back pocket closed with a zip. Probably a minor connection instability. 

Design : 

 The earbuds fit in pretty well. And they aren't too heavy. But they aren't having a tiny footprint. I can't wear them inside my helmet. The best element of the design is that they don't fall off. Even while running very fast which is the whole point of the BT Reflect Mini.

The earbuds have a central inline controller which houses a volume up and volume down rocker and a power of pause/skip multipurpose button. This controller houses the USB Slot for charging the device. There is an indicator LED for identifying the status. It also houses a microphone.

Earbuds are made of silicon while the buds are made of plastic probably. The wires are pretty flexible and don't annoy while running. They are made of reflective materials. JBL Mini BT Reflect is IPX4 resistant.

Experience : The earphones won't fall off. They provide a fantastic seal and instantly cut off ambient sound from the background. The sound quality is good and feels like a premium $100 earphone which retails for Rs. 5999 in India. I'm not a sound techie, but from everything I've heard, they sound great for the price point.

Try a variety of EQ modes for a better experience.

The Little Things And The Cons : 

1) The earphones are slightly big and stick on your ears. Could have been smaller and better.

2) The earphones could have had a dedicated app for controlling basic properties like sound, EQ etc from JBL. 

3) Android phones cannot see the % battery left.

4) The LED lights on the device aren't too helpful. Just let us know if the device is on or not.

5) No included clip for attaching the spare wire that stays hanging at the back.

Overall, a good product for those who want a secure fit, with good sound isolation, for the price point. 

Using The Apple Pencil And My Opinions : Not quite there yet

Since was sister was coming back from the US, we shipped an Apple Pencil and an iPad Pro 9.7inch to her and I got to use them both from the 15th of August, 2016, our 70th Independence Day.

Unboxed : So, this is what the box looks like. This is the first generation Apple Pencil and retails for $99 with no student offers and discounts whatsoever. And no, it's not included with any of the pricey iPad Pro Models. The box  is rather heavy and includes a layer of documents, the pencil itself and an adapter to charge the pencil via your standard Apple Lightning Cable. Apple also includes an extra pencil tip and I wonder when I'd have to use it.

Look And In-Hand Feel : The pencil is an all white product and is a single piece of hardware with no buttons at all. The end of the pencil features the Apple Pencil branding in metal and that end detaches to reveal the Apple Lightning Port for charging purposes.

The cap features a small magnet that keeps the end well adhered though there is a small movement and play while twisting the pencil end at times. However, the pencil is build really well.

The Apple pencil is nearly as long as a standard Indian pencil. Except, it might be nearly 3 times as heavy. It could get very slippery due to the glossy construction.

Setting Up The Pencil : The Apple Pencil is really easy to set up the first time. All I had to do, was remove the end cap of the pencil and plug it into the lightning port on the iPad and the iPad on screen instructions take care of the rest.

It first enables bluetooth and then the pencil is connected. Your iPad is still an iPad after the pencil is connected. For the few seconds it needs to be there, the Pencil looks really bad. There's a fear that somebody will knock off the pencil sideways when kept on the edge of  a table. There are no special software suites for the pencil. The pencil can be used to touch and swipe across homescreens and be used to enhance performance and usability in creative drawing apps.

The only preinstalled app where the Apple Pencil can be used effectively is the Apple Notes app.






Apple Notes is a very simple interface. It has the ability to select a couple of colours. There's three instruments for typing. There's a scale for drawing straight lines. That's about it. It's pretty basic that way. I managed to compose a mathematical problem using the Notes app and this is what it looked like. There's no sketch to shape like the Samsung Galaxy Note or even Evernote style features built in. However, tilting the pencil shades very much like a pencil and that is remarkable.

The Apple Pencil, is INCOMPLETE or USELESS without a couple of great drawing apps and the product would never be recommended to anyone by me if there wasn't a comprehensive set of apps available.

Since I'm not a drawing kind of guy, I only used the Pencil to test it's ability with handwriting and basic notes.

My father tested the Apple Pencil briefly to try out the overall Notes app. He shall be using it full time in his clinic and I'll upload the details briefly.

I'll be giving the Pencil to other users who primarily draw to test the quality of the same.

I'll wind up my review very quickly now.

PROS : The pencil is a step in the right direction to convert traditional writing to digital writing. It does its job fairly well I'd say.

It is a 10X leap compared to other styluses that the market offers currently. Most of them feature no pressure sensitivity and rubberized inaccurate tips.

Palm rejection is INSANELY GREAT  on this Apple Pencil across a variety of apps. You can finally rest your wrist in a normal way on the iPad screen.

The Pencil responds to our angular dip and pressure too. The Apple app community is ever growing and that means better and better apps every day.

The pencil battery life is great provided you pair and unpair it from time to  time. Battery life is indicated on the iPad itself.

CONS : Apple does not do much to improve the productivity of the pencil. Without apps from the Apple Store, the Pencil is an Accessory you wouldn't need or would ever use.

Samsung has done their Note lineup a lot of good with great software and intuitive features.

Writing on the pencil, STILL feels Unnatural. Sure, it's a lot better than ever before, but no, it still feels digitized. The Pencil glides on the smooth iPad Pro glass and there's no friction like the conventional writing experience.

The iPad Pro does not feature Force Touch. There's no haptic feedback or feel as if we are writing on paper. It could have been done. Force Touch is clearly missed on this device. 

The pencil, is NOT very convenient to carry. It does not feature a clip. Carrying it is a bother. There's no magnetic attachment to it. No Apple official accessory actually helps own and carry a pencil. It's heavier than a traditional pencil and it's too smooth to be held for prolonged periods of time. It lacks the texture of a traditional pencil.

It lacks the ability of erasing by tilting the pencil towards the end. Pressure sensitivity is supported but FEELS unnatural thanks to the smooth iPad display, near 0 friction and the lack of a Force Touch Display.

COULD DO BETTER :

The Pencil could be a great tool in the years to come. It needs a few refinements.

1. Better Software and Intuitive Features by Apple to enhance productivity and show developers the way.
2. The design could be lighter and feature better grip and also a clip.
3. The Pencil should feature a Smart Connector pin next time so pairing via bluetooth would be a thing of the past. Currently, the easiest way to pair is plug it in 5seconds.
4. Pencil should charge via the smart connector or be made so that it never needs charging. It should become a part of the iPad Pro in a way you never imagined it to be. Just pick it up and draw and write. Never worry again.
5. The iPad should feature serious advancements to accept and respond to pressure sensitivity.
6. Apple should bundle the iPad Pro and the Pencil in one box to show customers their commitment to the pencil.
7. The price should be nearly $49, half of what it retails for.

On a concluding note, I'd say, it's a great device, but it's NOT QUITE there yet. 

Two Feedbacks Gone Down The Drain

Asking for feedbacks has become an important trend in the wellness, hospitality and service sector as a whole. Through feedbacks, companies endeavour to improve their offerings to maintain and improve their reputation.

Being very fortunate to have tried a lot of food of a variety of cuisines in my city, I make it a point to give an honest feedback to hotels and restaurants that ask for it. However, I never ever had to give a negative or sour feedback before.

And when I happened to give two in a row, I was shocked to see the way managements respond to our feedbacks in our country, India. At first, I thought feedbacks were asked just for the sake of it. I thought they were ways the company/brand was trying to show customers their opinion matters and unsurprisingly, in majority of places, this is exactly what it is. A feedback form is typically a paper placed for show.

But, exercising our right is an important duty of a citizen and a customer. So, I make it a point to give feedbacks and never wondered where my words would go or would they matter. Here's two incidences : -

A) Nawab Pan Asia, Pune
The attendant was really helpful and helped me pick a starter for myself. He helped my parents pick the right dish in the right amount. And we were set. The restaurant was moderately crowded. The service at first was great. Food was rushing in hot. Water was poured regularly. He was paying close attention to us. Asking us if we liked the food etc.

He wasn't a Maharashtrian. He was probably a North Indian (no offense or praise). We were shortly done with our main course and waiting for the dessert menu. We waited a good 15 minutes patiently but he was too busy. I really don't blame him. Then, we waved a few times and he came another 10 minutes later. We asked for the dessert. And then had to wait another 15 minutes for the bill and this was annoying.

The restaurant was busy. People were waiting. We were wanting to leave. All set to settle the bill and leave. However, we were kept waiting, for no good reason. And finally, came the bill and the feedback form. As usual, my parents settled the bill and I took charge of the feedback form.

I marked the food and ambience as a 4/5 each. I was considering the Service Section before giving it a review. I marked Attendant Helpfulness a 4/5 for his excellent suggestions. However, I marked Attentiveness a 3/5 and justified it with a comment. "Slightly slow and delayed service over the end." and gave it in.

We were almost out the door and about to call the elevator until our attendant for the night came running to me and said, "Sir, ye kya likha hai aapne? Sir, main aapko full attention diya na. Sir, sab food hot leka aaya na mai. Repeat chahiye kya poocha. Sir maine kidhar neglect kiya. " and I calmly told him that we were waiting for a real long time post our main course for some water, our bill and even merely ordering a desert.

However, he insisted I change the feedback. I was taken aback. I wasn't used to changing a feedback. I didn't want to do it because I was highly truthful. I don't know why, but I grabbed the pen and slashed the comment and rated him 5/5 and he said "Thank you Sir!" and left into the hustling restaurant.

B) Sigree, Global Grill, Pune - by Speciality Restaurants India
We regularly visit this place and have never been disappointed with food and service. However, the last visit, was rather unpleasant.

Sigree, during evenings, has a starter on table buffet system. I opted for the Non-Veg buffet while my parents chose Veg. We walked and started with soups and the starters started shortly. Food was great and I was starving. We were supposed to be served 5 Types Of Starters each. So, I was expecting 5 Non-Veg starters.

When we entered the restaurant at 7:30 PM, the place had just 10 odd people out of a maximum of 60 guests in the indoor space. We expected fast and courteous service that day but we were wrong to expect so.

The starters started coming but the first morsel of Chicken Tikka I had was cold. As cold as Tandoor Grilled Chicken could get if kept in a cold room for an hour. I was disappointed, yet I asked for a new lot. The mutton starter was piping hot and tasty. Prawns came in a few minutes later only to be untouched by me since they were very cold to eat again. Despite these initial setbacks, we ate 4 starters each. My parents were expecting a vegetable while I was expecting Fish. We waited for a while and my eyes were eying every dish that was coming out of the live grill which I could see through the glass.

I was still waiting for Fish. Not every starter came back to me again. Theoretically, the starters are supposed to keep on coming till you ask them to stop. However, nobody was really attentive towards our table as a lot of new guests quickly poured in and the restaurant was half full in the next 30 minutes.

We shifted gears to the main course and I don't do Mains a lot. So, I had the Fish when it came. It was really nice. Now, I had to wait for the other starters to show up again. Our attendant was prompt to ask for a repeat for a few starters but not uniformly. But, the starters as a whole just wouldn't showup.

I kept asking for them and got to a stage where I thought we deserved some more attention. We topped ourselves with desserts. Lots of sweet and sour things. Can't remember what. And asked for the bill.

And, in came another feedback form which I took charge off. Rated the food quality as 3/5 and specified (food was cold on a lot of occasions today). Rated service as 3/5 and specified (cold starters and lack of attention). Rated the ambience as a 4/5 as usual and submitted it. However, this time, we actually got to saw the advent of our feedback. My feedback was being read by the attendant whilst he was carrying it to the manager. Then, a colleague read it. Then, the manager read it too.

And history nearly repeated itself. The attendant came to talk to me and reiterated that he was serving us with attention. He highlighted that he was asking me for repeats. He seemed really alarmed by my feedback and strongly insisted he was serving us well. He asked me to CHANGE my feedback. And, I thought of the consequences of doing that. Did it matter to me? No. But maybe he would love out on some spare bonus that would change his week. So, I altered the feedback. Yes. I was made to alter the feedback and it was back to the managers desk.

We were waiting for our change and my parents were silent at first. Then, father said, "Guess there's no way you can tell them the truth without them coming and hiding it." and on hearing that, I asked another attendant to call the manager on duty for a small chat.

A fat man came and stood besides me. And I told him what had just happened. In the end, I just asked him "Why do you ask us for feedback if you're going to make us manipulate it? I don't think it is right that I change my honest opinion about today's dinner so that a fellow colleague in your restaurant doesn't get a hit on his salary. " and all the fat manager did was  say, "Customer is most important to us sir. Extremely sorry for this event. Your feedback is very valuable to us. " and I was like "WHAT EVEN!"

In the end, he showed off his management training by saying, "I take this opportunity to introduce our new menu. Sir, do come in afternoon also since we have our new food menu. Do visit again."

So, the manager diffused the situation by diverting it and showing off his management skills. The conclusion I drew is some places, institutions, would never change. It is the attitude of people that needs to change for improvement in lots of sectors like wellness and hospitality.

People need to develop the habit of accepting criticism and working to improvise on that fronts. I wonder why feedbacks aren't read by the manager at the end of a particular session to assess performance of attendants. Maybe a little anonymity shall help them judge performance better.

Cheers.

Meeting Another Set Of Shivdes, Oops Shivades!

Our surname, Shivde, is certainly uncommon to most Maharashtrians. People in my city, Pune, call us Shinde at times because that's what they easily expect.

Our family background lies in Nashik, a moderately sized city in Maharashtra. My grandfathers and forefathers grew up there.

As we go about with our routine lives aka, my parents work at the hospital, I attend college, we get an odd ball quite often. In my case, I usually got two. A few people would ask (in an attempt to be highly modest) me who Dr. Shivde is to me and I would tell them he is my father. However, the odd ball confused me all the time.

However, we have often been asked by friends, acquaintances and common people we bump into, this very peculiar one question. "How is Advocate Shivde related to you?"

Take me back to 2009 and I really wouldn't know how to answer that question. I was just 12 then and I didn't know a lot about a lot of people that I know today, and this is but obvious.

Back then, I would humbly tell people that I had no idea who he has. My parents, who were asked the same question, would tell people we weren't related. We had never seen this man, who apparently everyone had heard off.

In 2013, we found a couple of close friends who knew Mr. Advocate Shivde and that is when I found out about him thanks to Google the great. It took me 15 seconds to realize, Mr. Advocate Shivde was a famous and reputed lawyer committed to the defense of a lot of big names and celebrities in India. However, thanks to family friends, the impression was he was an elderly main in his 60s maybe (as of 2013).

After literally being asked "WHO IS ADV.SHIVDE?", "IS HE YOUR UNCLE?" for over 200 times , I began answering that he is my grandfather. I had never met him. Never wondered how old he actually could be, but yes, that was my answer.

Until, 31st July 2016, when both of our families bumped into each other at a party. It was purely coincidental. My mother was asked the same question, "Is Advocate Shivde related to you? He is here tonight too."

My mother was curious too. The kind doctor who asked her that question happened to know the advocate's wife and introduced my mother to her. Mrs. Advocate Shivde was accompanied by her daughter Miss Shivde and that is how my mother Dr. Mrs. Shivde came to meet the set of Shivdes we were always asked about every now and then.

It was then, that we found out they were Shivdes who spelled their surname as Shivade. The two names are pronounced and written the same in Devnagari script. Shortly, my father was introduced to the two Shivades and soon, the advocate walked in too.

I was watching this scene from a distance and was surprised at the calm yet happy look on all their faces. It turned out that they were plagued by similar questions too. Mrs. Shivade told us she had answered easily over a 100 calls asking for Dr. Shivde's clinic and appointment times. I knew my father had made a name with his expertise and patient care. Except, I didn't expect them to have heard about us. My mother was pleased to hear that.

Mr. Shivade, seemed to be a man aged near my father and nowhere near a grandfather. And we shook hands too. A couple of other guests I knew at the party were my college principals at Fergusson College. Our principal again thought I was related to the advocate and began giving me a reference about their cousins who were related.

I introduced him to Mr. Shivde and Mr. Shivade.

In the end, the two Shivdes, oops, Shivdes and Shivades casually spoke about a cup of coffee sometime, to mark a new beginning to a probably new friendship.

A decade long darkness finally came to an end.

Working On Consistency

Over the past year, I've had a couple of amusing experiences which are really worth sharing and pondering about.

I've learnt a lot of things. Framed opinions. Seen opinions being enforced. Found out flaws and also derived strength.

And, I admit, I need to work on consistency. I'm rapid to start new things but I fail miserably at working to iron out the entire process.

So, I'm gonna try and blog consistently.

Cheers