MesmerizinG MahabaleshwaR !!!

In the month of June I and my friends (Shrey, Kishan & Raj) decided to visit Mumbai, as we were having a vacation after our university exams. From Mumbai we planned to take a short trip to Mahabaleshwar. Mahabaleshwar is a popular hill station in Western India. For the people of Mumbai and Pune it is like an ultimate getaway destination from hectic city life, just like our Mount Abu. But trust me it is far better compared to Mount Abu.

How we reached:

There are many travel agencies in Mumbai which provide tour packages for Mahabaleshwar. We opted to take a complete package tour, which included to and fro travel in an AC bus, accommodation, food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and sightseeing. It took 6 hrs by bus to reach Mahabaleshwar in a night journey. 

That's the first pic of our journey

Accommodation:

Next day we reached Mahabaleshwar around 6:30 in morning. The atmosphere was very pleasant and we felt like we were in heaven (fog played a big part in that). 

You can see the fog in background

There are a number of good hotels and resort available in Mahabaleshwar accommodating both budget and big wallet tourists. We stayed at hotel Rahi which was pre booked for us by our tour operator. The hotel was located on the main market road which later turned out to be a boon for us and also a main reason behind our frequent visits to the market in free time.

 Places to visit:

There are more than 30 points to visit and most of them are at hill place. You can hire a private vehicles or taxi from the market to visit these points .We were provided an Indigo car to take us to these points.
 

Pratapgarh Fort : On day one we visited Pratapgarh fort. We were lucky enough that the rains had stopped and atmosphere was very much clear. This fort is famous for its story of victory of  Shivaji Maharaja over Afzal Khan.The fort is smartly constructed and is worth visiting .Here are some of the pics that we clicked at the fort.

Group pic taken at the fort

Punishment point

The statue of Shivaji Maharaj at the summit of Pratapgarh fort

On our way back to hotel it started raining heavily and we saw many breathtaking views of the lush green valley. We could actually see the clouds moving in front of us as we were at a very high altitude. 

 Next day we covered following points:

Mahabaleshwar Temple:  This is a very ancient temple and is a land mark of Mahabaleshwar. In the same premises there are 3 temples of lord Shiva. Krishnai temple is the origin point of Krishna river. Photography is prohibited inside the temple.

Back side of the temple

Arthur seat point: This is a very famous point as it offers a complete panoramic view of canyons and cliffs. Here we weren’t so lucky to get the entire view of the valley as it was covered with fog. We waited for some time for the fog to clear up but hard luck. I convinced myself saying that it was like any other point, but deep down I knew that it was unique.

That's what I am talking about

Needle hole point: At this point one can see a natural rock formation with a hole in between, thus given the name needle hole. The rock also looks like an elephant’s trunk. Several movies have been filmed at this point.

It did appear like an elephant head.

Kate’s Point: This point is located at a walking distance from needle point and it offers splendid view of Krishna Valley and Dhom dam.

Krishna river from Kates point

 Mala factory: Mala company is famous throughout the world for its jam and syrups. Along with jam and syrup you can also get fudge, chikki, chocolates at this factory. Interested visitors can see the packing process of the products. Being a factory outlet they offer some discount on their products and also allow the visitors to taste syrups, chikki, fudge etc. before buying them.

Mapro Gardens: Just like Mala, Mapro is also a very well known company. Both companies offer almost same type of products. 

Keep your camera's ready for Mapro garden

Parsi point: The view from this point was very much similar to that from Kate’s point. There are few rides for kids and other road side stalls at this point. 

Panchgani table land is a very famous point about 20 kms away from Mahabaleshwar. Sadly the point is now closed for the tourist because of an unfortunate incident that took place a few months back. Apart from these points there are many other points which I hope to cover in my next visit to Mahabaleshwar.

Shopping: Mahabaleshwar is famous for its strawberries, jam, chikki and flavored syrups. There are many strawberry farms over here. Fresh strawberries are available throughout the year. Also at some of these farms they provide strawberry ice-cream with lots of actual strawberry and cream over it. Don’t miss that it’s something new.

Strawberry Farm

Strawberry Ice Cream

Best season to visit: The atmosphere is pleasant throughout the year. But the best time to visit this beautiful hill station is between October to mid June .Our driver told us that in monsoon the place is shut down due to heavy rains. So it is advisable to do some inquiry beforehand if you are planning to go during monsoon.

Overall, it was definitely an unforgettable experience with friends. Mahabaleshwar is a great destination to relax and detoxify yourself with its air, water and scenic views. The hills have a strange way of calling tourist back and Mahabaleshwar is one such place. 

 For more pics checkout this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4162183461505.2173116.1491645824&type=3&l=92962ff9f2

Canon PowerShot SX150 IS : Review

Canon has produced a very good alternative for the compact camera market in its PowerShot SX150 IS platform. The camera boasts a 14MP picture size with 12x optical zoom capability and the camera delivers. The SX150 IS is a little bit larger and heavier than most compact cameras but is of quality construction and durable. The case is nicely designed with specific places to rest your fingers and thumb for one-hand operation. All the controls can be operated with the right hand while holding the camera.

The picture quality is very good. Canon's processor provides vivid colors and impressive clarity for a compact design. The large viewing screen is impressive and easy to see, even in bright sunlight. The controls are easy to use and placed such that they won't be accidentally changed. The controls in the on-screen menu are easy to use and, if you're familiar with Canon's menu system, you'll be able to start shooting right away. Those that aren't familiar with Canon should read the manual, but even then, the menu selections and control layout are very intuitive and easy to use.

This camera has so many features that I was blown away at how much I could do with it for such a small price. The camera provides a lot of special shooting features that can be used not only for still photography, but also for the video recording. There's an "easy shooting" mode for those that want to pick up the camera and start shooting right away, allowing the camera to make all the decisions about ISO, white balance, focus, etc. It has some very cool features as to filter the image to just the color you want, i.e. if you select green, it will provide a picture/video on gray tones and will let the green objects to be unfiltered. There are plenty of shooting modes that allow the photographer to select a style for their photos (monochrome, color accent, landscape, color replacement, miniature mode, macro, smile and face detection, beach and snow scenes, fireworks, etc.). For those that want more control over their photography, the camera does offer shooting modes in Manual, Program, Aperture and Shutter Priority.

The movie feature works well and provides decent HD video, but keep in mind that this camera is not a movie camera, so don't expect Hollywood quality from it, but it's nice enough to document short events for display on HD TVs and the web.

The flash is a little different for this camera. It's centered over the telescoping lens but is manually activated (you have to lift the flash open with your finger) to turn on the auto-flash feature. While this may seem like an annoyance at first, it's actually not a bad feature, just different; and it prevents that annoying "pop-up" of the flash when you really don't want flash but the camera's sensors require it. Only one drawback of this camera is that after a constant use of the flash a message ‘flash is charging’ appears for 2-4 seconds .This delays the picture. Wish it was a bit faster.

Overall, this is the LAST REMAINING, top quality, 2-AA battery, point-and-shoot camera left on the market, people. There are some very good economical reasons to PREFER that choice. Anywhere you travel, you can ALWAYS buy - or borrow - AA batteries to keep it going. The AA batteries are about as universal an item as exists on the planet, so you can still keep shooting this camera almost anywhere you go. But you absolutely should use rechargeable AAs whenever you can, to save money - a LOT of money and they last much longer on each charge. I get about 250 large JPEG photos per charged set. This camera can meet most user's needs especially if they are looking for a camera that provides a lot of shooting features in a small package with HD video and is easy to learn to use. I highly recommend it.  

You also can

Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You've all that the greatest of men have had,
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
And a brain to use, if you would be wise.
With this equipment they all began,
So start from the TOP and say, I CAN.

Look them over, the wise and the great,
They take their food from a common plate,
And similar knives and forks they use,
With similar laces they tie their shoes.
The world considers them brave and smart,
But you have all they had when they made their start.

You can triumph and come to skill,
You can be great if you only will.
You're well equipped for what fight you choose,
You too have arms and legs and a brain to use,
And the man who has risen, great deeds to do,
Began his life with no more than you!

You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place.
You must say where you want to go,
How much you will study, the truth to know,
God has equipped you for life,
But he lets you decide what you want to be.

Courage must come from the soul within,
The man must furnish the will to win,
So figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You were born with all that the great have had
With your equipment they all began,
Get hold of yourself and say I CAN!!

                                               

                                                               - George Washington Carver

BIDDING ADIEU TO COLLEGE DAYS

Yesterday was my last day at college and still it doesn't feel like I have spent 4 years here.That is how fast time flies away. I don't have sufficient words to describe how I feel happy, overjoyed, relieved, relaxed or sad because I've made  a lot of friends in these years and now they'll  be gone. The only thing I am sure about is that I'll surely miss V.G.E.C. and the people around here. The last few moments were full of sentiments, hugs, handshakes, signatures, pics, smiles and questions like - "kayre madisu ?" :-) This was the moment when everyone realized that they have to move on. Final words were exchanged and we all were HAPPY + SAD!

 Four years ago, when I got admission in this college, I used to sit in class and ask myself WHY I took this step??! WHY I left the small pool which had all my dear friends and came to this huge ocean where I did not know anyone??I had actually lost my way to my new class on the very first day, and told myself –Shrujal, if this is how your first day has gone, imagine how the next FOUR YEARS will be??! Will I make any friends here?? Will I find good group??Will we have good faculty?? Will I even SURVIVE till the end??!!!

I know, all this sounds very filmy, but this is exactly how I felt back then…..But as they say, whatever happens, happens for the good. Yes, the College life was always a fun. I have learnt many new things over here, which you can’t find mentioned in any book. The last four years were golden moments of my life. Had some really good NEW experiences which have helped me to develop as a person and I am amazed to see the evolution in me. Made many new life long friends. Got recruited in group named Hal – Qaeda ;-) Got one block also. Had wonderful trips to Gir - Somnath - Diu , mundra. Got selected in TCS and the list goes on….   

We all were a part of GTU’s 1^st batch and were treated like lab rats :p. All the possible experiments were done on us by GTU, but we survived and were topper batch in university. Though there were individual groups in our class, but still we were united and that’s the best thing about our batch.  

I am going to miss my batch mates, my group, professors, seniors and juniors, especially the 6th sem juniors, because I feel they have been the sweetest batch and once again thanks guys for a wonderful farewell. I will also miss all the fun we had during our lab intervals especially the B1batch, the volleyball games ,card games , badminton matches, all the nonsense comments on each others status messages on Facebook, ‘class awards’, the great roller-coaster ride called P.R.O.J.E.C.T, everything will be imprinted in my memory for a long time to come.  

I will definitely  miss Ghathiya rath na khaman and ghathiya, Trupti ni ice cream, lunch break dabba parties, bunking classes and going for movie at City Gold, those B’day bumps and parties, volunteering for JUNOON, Technoaspire, one day picnics, manekchok, law garden, late night outs and night stays (specially the one  that we had at my place during uttarayan), garba nights, holi celebrations and again the list goes on……. 

In the end, I want to thank all my batch mates and especially some close friends who have made my journey ‘exciting’ and my life ‘wonderful’ during past 4 years. Hope we stay in touch in future… Thank you all and yes - M really gonna miss this place, m gonna miss my College Days!!!!!