Japan's Core Inflation Rises,
Jobless Rate Worsens
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 27, 2008 11:52 p.m.
TOKYO -- Japan's inflation rate climbed at its fastest rate in a decade in February and the jobless rate worsened to 3.9% under data released Friday, raising concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy.
The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.0% in February from a year ago -- the fastest reading since March 1998, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
Japan has long struggled with deflation, or falling prices, but Friday's data, which also marked the fifth straight month of gains, show that higher prices for imported oil and commodities are adding pressure on living costs.
Separate data released by the ministry said household spending was flat in February from a year earlier, an indication that the economy was getting less support from domestic demand, while exports that have long driven the nation's growth are also losing steam.
The result fell short of the 2.5% rise expected in surveys by Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei.
Economy Minister Hiroko Ota voiced concerns that recent sharp rises in consumer prices could have a negative impact on consumption growth.
"With economic growth pausing and workers' wages not increasing, I cannot say that recent rises in consumer prices are good," Mr. Ota told a news conference. "I'm concerned about how such price rises -- mostly stemming from rises in gasoline and food prices -- will affect consumers."
Separately, Japan's unemployment rate stood at a worse-than-expected 3.9% in February, the Ministry of Public Management said. The results reflected slowing domestic and overseas growth, which has made business less willing to hire workers.
Japan's unemployment rate was 3.8% in January.
The ministry said the total number of jobless was down by 40,000 on year, marking the 27th consecutive month of decline.
The jobless rate registered to 4.0% in September and October before dropping to 3.8% in November and staying flat for three months.
The core CPI for the Tokyo metropolitan area for March rose a preliminary 0.6% on year, the data showed. The number is considered a leading indicator for nationwide consumer prices.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Central Banks-soothe or Stoke?!?!?!
COUNTRY BRIEFING
FROM FINANCIAL TIMES
By Chris Giles in London and James Politi in Washington
Central banks' efforts to ease strains in the money markets are failing to stop financial institutions from hoarding cash, stoking fears that the recent respite in equity markets may not signal the end of the credit crisis.
Banks' borrowing costs - a sign of their willingness to lend to each other - in the US, eurozone and the UK rose again even after the Federal Reserve's unprecedented activity in lending to retail and investment banks against weaker than usual collateral and similar action in Europe.
The continued friction in the money markets came even as stock markets were showing new signs of optimism in spite of fresh data from the US showing consumers at their most pessimistic for 35 years and house prices falling at the fastest rate on record.
In London, where the Bank of England has faced criticism for not being as proactive as other central banks, the three-month Libor rate was set on Tuesday at 5.995 per cent, its highest of the year. This is nearly 0.9 percentage points above the level investors demand for risk-free money, a spread nearly as high as that which led to central bank interventions in September and December.
The European Central Bank allocated €216bn ($337bn) in seven-day funds in its regular weekly operation on Tuesday - some €50bn higher than the amount it estimated would have normally been needed - at an average rate of 4.28 per cent, which was the highest since late September.
The Fed's latest lending to banks under its Term Auction Facility was also in heavy demand, receiving bids for $88.9bn compared with the $50bn on offer, an excess of demand almost as great as the previous auction two weeks ago, before the collapse of Bear Stearns.
But equity markets ignored the continued stresses in the plumbing of the financial system, partly in the hope that they were driven by liquidity hoarding at the end of the financial quarter.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 gained 3.5 per cent, closing 193.9 points higher at 5,689.1, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 3.1 per cent to close at 1,266. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 2.1 per cent while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 6.4 per cent.
The rises followed strong gains on Monday in the US after the revised JPMorgan offer for Bear Stearns. At the close, the S&P index was also up 0.23 per cent - its earlier gains pared by further evidence the credit crisis risks sending the US economy into a deep recession.
Consumer confidence crumbled to a five-year low in March, and US home prices experienced a record slide in January.
The Conference Board's confidence index fell from 76.4 in February to a reading of 64.5 this month.
"Consumers' outlook for business conditions, the job market and their income prospects is quite pessimistic and suggests further weakening may be on the horizon," said Lynn Franco of the Conference Board. Except for a brief period in 2003 when the Iraq war began, the index is at its lowest level since the early 1990s.
The expectations index, which tracks consumers' assessments of future conditions, fell from 58 last month to 47.9 in March, its worst reading since December 1973.
The collapse in US consumer confidence came as the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of US home prices showed a sharp decline in January. Home prices in 20 large cities fell by 10.7 per cent in January compared with the same period last year, a drop that was slightly worse than expected but marked an acceleration compared with a 9.1 per cent fall in December.
The slide in home prices - the biggest monthly drop on record - could damp hopes that the US housing market may be close to a bottom. Those hopes were raised on Monday when data showed that sales of previously owned homes rose for the first time in seven months in February.
FROM FINANCIAL TIMES
By Chris Giles in London and James Politi in Washington
Central banks' efforts to ease strains in the money markets are failing to stop financial institutions from hoarding cash, stoking fears that the recent respite in equity markets may not signal the end of the credit crisis.
Banks' borrowing costs - a sign of their willingness to lend to each other - in the US, eurozone and the UK rose again even after the Federal Reserve's unprecedented activity in lending to retail and investment banks against weaker than usual collateral and similar action in Europe.
The continued friction in the money markets came even as stock markets were showing new signs of optimism in spite of fresh data from the US showing consumers at their most pessimistic for 35 years and house prices falling at the fastest rate on record.
In London, where the Bank of England has faced criticism for not being as proactive as other central banks, the three-month Libor rate was set on Tuesday at 5.995 per cent, its highest of the year. This is nearly 0.9 percentage points above the level investors demand for risk-free money, a spread nearly as high as that which led to central bank interventions in September and December.
The European Central Bank allocated €216bn ($337bn) in seven-day funds in its regular weekly operation on Tuesday - some €50bn higher than the amount it estimated would have normally been needed - at an average rate of 4.28 per cent, which was the highest since late September.
The Fed's latest lending to banks under its Term Auction Facility was also in heavy demand, receiving bids for $88.9bn compared with the $50bn on offer, an excess of demand almost as great as the previous auction two weeks ago, before the collapse of Bear Stearns.
But equity markets ignored the continued stresses in the plumbing of the financial system, partly in the hope that they were driven by liquidity hoarding at the end of the financial quarter.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 gained 3.5 per cent, closing 193.9 points higher at 5,689.1, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 3.1 per cent to close at 1,266. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 2.1 per cent while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 6.4 per cent.
The rises followed strong gains on Monday in the US after the revised JPMorgan offer for Bear Stearns. At the close, the S&P index was also up 0.23 per cent - its earlier gains pared by further evidence the credit crisis risks sending the US economy into a deep recession.
Consumer confidence crumbled to a five-year low in March, and US home prices experienced a record slide in January.
The Conference Board's confidence index fell from 76.4 in February to a reading of 64.5 this month.
"Consumers' outlook for business conditions, the job market and their income prospects is quite pessimistic and suggests further weakening may be on the horizon," said Lynn Franco of the Conference Board. Except for a brief period in 2003 when the Iraq war began, the index is at its lowest level since the early 1990s.
The expectations index, which tracks consumers' assessments of future conditions, fell from 58 last month to 47.9 in March, its worst reading since December 1973.
The collapse in US consumer confidence came as the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of US home prices showed a sharp decline in January. Home prices in 20 large cities fell by 10.7 per cent in January compared with the same period last year, a drop that was slightly worse than expected but marked an acceleration compared with a 9.1 per cent fall in December.
The slide in home prices - the biggest monthly drop on record - could damp hopes that the US housing market may be close to a bottom. Those hopes were raised on Monday when data showed that sales of previously owned homes rose for the first time in seven months in February.
A new Arthur Anderson?!?!?!
Is KPMG heading the same way as did THE AA firm?!?!Surely not because of the belowmentioned New Century Financial Corp..but the way the firm is directing its capabilities..could well be heading the same way as the erstwhile AA....
KPMG Aided New Century Missteps, Report Says
By PEG BRICKLEY and AMIR EFRATIMarch 27, 2008; Page A6
A court-appointed investigator looking into the collapse of New Century Financial Corp. said in a report that its auditor, KPMG LLP, devised some of the improper accounting strategies that allowed the company to hide its financial problems for years.
The investigator, Michael J. Missal, said the company might be able to recover money for its creditors by suing KPMG for professional negligence and negligent misrepresentation. He also recommended the company sue several of its former top executives to recover millions of dollars in bonuses and other compensation paid to them.
KPMG "contributed to certain of these accounting and financial reporting deficiencies by enabling them to persist and, in some instances, precipitating the company's departure from applicable accounting standards," Mr. Missal said in a 550-page report filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., and released Wednesday.
Dan Ginsburg, a spokesman for KPMG, said, "We strongly disagree with the report's conclusion concerning KPMG. We believe that an objective review of the facts and circumstances will affirm our position."
The Justice Department, as part of its investigation into New Century's collapse, is looking at individuals at KPMG who audited the company, according to people familiar with the case. But these individuals are not currently a target of the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Justice Department inquiry is being handled out of the Santa Ana office of the U.S. attorney for California's central district, based in Los Angeles. A spokesman for KPMG declined to comment.
A spokesperson for New Century said in a statement: "The Company is pleased that the Examiner's report is finally completed and that we can take the next steps of confirming the plan of liquidation, therefore substantially concluding the bankruptcy process."
In his report, Mr. Missal said that in one instance, a KPMG partner who led the New Century audit team castigated a subordinate who had questioned one of the company's accounting practices as it prepared to file its 2005 annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to Mr. Missal, the KPMG partner told the subordinate in an email: "I am very disappointed we are still discussing this. As far as I am concerned, we are done. The client thinks we are done. All we are going to do is p- everybody off."
New Century, based in Irvine, Calif., was once one of the country's biggest providers of mortgages to people with poor credit histories. In 2006, it originated nearly $60 billion in subprime mortgages. It collapsed in April 2007 after its accounting problems came to light, accelerating the meltdown in the subprime-mortgage market. That meltdown precipitated the biggest credit crunch in at least a decade.
In his report, Mr. Missal said New Century had "a brazen obsession with increasing loan originations, without due regard to the risks associated with that business strategy." Its loan-production department, he said, was "the dominant force in the company," which trained mortgage brokers in sessions it referred to as "CloseMore University."
The company had low standards for originating loans, Mr. Missal said. "The predominant standard for loan quality was whether the loans New Century originated could be initially sold or securitized in the secondary market," he said. "The increasingly risky nature of New Century's loan originations created a ticking time bomb that detonated in 2007."
New Century owes its creditors more than $1 billion, but it has said in court papers that they are likely to recover no more than 17 cents of every dollar they are owed. Because the company has few assets left, much of that funding is likely to come from lawsuits against parties responsible for the company's collapse.
In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Missal said KPMG "didn't have the healthy skepticism that you would expect from your outside independent auditors." One of the accounting errors Mr. Missal identified involved a decision not to account for a "growing backlog" of troubled loans New Century was obligated to repurchase.
Senior New Century executives knew as far back as 2004 that the subprime-mortgage boom was doomed to go bust, Mr. Missal said. But he said its accounting practices allowed those dangers to be disguised.
KPMG Aided New Century Missteps, Report Says
By PEG BRICKLEY and AMIR EFRATIMarch 27, 2008; Page A6
A court-appointed investigator looking into the collapse of New Century Financial Corp. said in a report that its auditor, KPMG LLP, devised some of the improper accounting strategies that allowed the company to hide its financial problems for years.
The investigator, Michael J. Missal, said the company might be able to recover money for its creditors by suing KPMG for professional negligence and negligent misrepresentation. He also recommended the company sue several of its former top executives to recover millions of dollars in bonuses and other compensation paid to them.
KPMG "contributed to certain of these accounting and financial reporting deficiencies by enabling them to persist and, in some instances, precipitating the company's departure from applicable accounting standards," Mr. Missal said in a 550-page report filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., and released Wednesday.
Dan Ginsburg, a spokesman for KPMG, said, "We strongly disagree with the report's conclusion concerning KPMG. We believe that an objective review of the facts and circumstances will affirm our position."
The Justice Department, as part of its investigation into New Century's collapse, is looking at individuals at KPMG who audited the company, according to people familiar with the case. But these individuals are not currently a target of the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Justice Department inquiry is being handled out of the Santa Ana office of the U.S. attorney for California's central district, based in Los Angeles. A spokesman for KPMG declined to comment.
A spokesperson for New Century said in a statement: "The Company is pleased that the Examiner's report is finally completed and that we can take the next steps of confirming the plan of liquidation, therefore substantially concluding the bankruptcy process."
In his report, Mr. Missal said that in one instance, a KPMG partner who led the New Century audit team castigated a subordinate who had questioned one of the company's accounting practices as it prepared to file its 2005 annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to Mr. Missal, the KPMG partner told the subordinate in an email: "I am very disappointed we are still discussing this. As far as I am concerned, we are done. The client thinks we are done. All we are going to do is p- everybody off."
New Century, based in Irvine, Calif., was once one of the country's biggest providers of mortgages to people with poor credit histories. In 2006, it originated nearly $60 billion in subprime mortgages. It collapsed in April 2007 after its accounting problems came to light, accelerating the meltdown in the subprime-mortgage market. That meltdown precipitated the biggest credit crunch in at least a decade.
In his report, Mr. Missal said New Century had "a brazen obsession with increasing loan originations, without due regard to the risks associated with that business strategy." Its loan-production department, he said, was "the dominant force in the company," which trained mortgage brokers in sessions it referred to as "CloseMore University."
The company had low standards for originating loans, Mr. Missal said. "The predominant standard for loan quality was whether the loans New Century originated could be initially sold or securitized in the secondary market," he said. "The increasingly risky nature of New Century's loan originations created a ticking time bomb that detonated in 2007."
New Century owes its creditors more than $1 billion, but it has said in court papers that they are likely to recover no more than 17 cents of every dollar they are owed. Because the company has few assets left, much of that funding is likely to come from lawsuits against parties responsible for the company's collapse.
In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Missal said KPMG "didn't have the healthy skepticism that you would expect from your outside independent auditors." One of the accounting errors Mr. Missal identified involved a decision not to account for a "growing backlog" of troubled loans New Century was obligated to repurchase.
Senior New Century executives knew as far back as 2004 that the subprime-mortgage boom was doomed to go bust, Mr. Missal said. But he said its accounting practices allowed those dangers to be disguised.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Random Musings of a melancholy conundrum
Just watched Taare Zameen pe for the umpteenth time yesterday.Yesterday was under the pretext of my Mum not having watched the movie.the movie reminded me of the glorious yesteryears.Am sure everyone who watched it felt the same...all those naughty pranks,irate daddies,worried mummies musing"what will happen to this kid!!"
RC i guess was the one more shouted at than i was.He was like water always wanting to do his own thing.I remember almost beating him up for saying that God is nonsense and Krishna is a mere story and that the almighty RC is stronger than any imagined God.That was 20 years ago..and now...where is he?As near his"powerless God" as one can get after an engineering degree, a MSc with honors from UK , and god knows how many other feathers on his cap...And the Deepa Bhat who was suposed to be a doctor is still giving exams , still musing about her purpose in life and what she should really do..."give in" to "whirledly things"
But even though I am not sad , I have a little thought nibbling on me this morning . The more I live , the more I realise two things . I still don't have a 'purpose' in my life . (Oh,all right I DO go around proclaiming that I have found my purpose...but I seem to be taking steps in exactly the opposite direction....does that make me a loony?!?!)And second , now that I have lived some more , I have lesser time to find that purpose .It is like 5 years back I was "Chill yaar . I am only 22. Only God Buddha found a purpose in life at that age." But Now I am like "Umm . I am almost 26. And I think I will find a bigger meaning in life right after a little nap. "Sure , I have phases of 'being driven' in my life . Like I wake up and say 'Right . Today I will call the Hutch Customer care people and tell them they should be looting banks in masks and not calling themselves a telecom service provider for all the scary things they are doing to my connection'. So, little purposes about getting my cell connection up , analysing whether DSP TIGER's downside is lower than ICICI's Infrastructue...hell can they be compared at alll(blurrghhhh)ironing my clothes for the next day and such micro sized things dot my day. But there is nothing which connects all these dots ...I think and shout that I have my purpose outlined....but thats because of the fault in the Matrix's programming which makes some of us come around once in a while once our souls have been recycled enough number of times-enough to make us raw....as raw as we were on the day we were born.We(meaning I and such other poor confused souls like moi) have those short glimpses of utopia...and take as many steps forward ..but then stop.What is real?the fraction of a glimpse,or what i live everyday ..because of the glimpse is the real thing then all these dots are ,,well just a means to pass time...do i want to merely pass time,going on through a drudgeous life? or do i want to make those glimpses real and these dots a mere prop?!?!Do i want to be Neo?or some common mortal stuck in the Matrix?!!
RC i guess was the one more shouted at than i was.He was like water always wanting to do his own thing.I remember almost beating him up for saying that God is nonsense and Krishna is a mere story and that the almighty RC is stronger than any imagined God.That was 20 years ago..and now...where is he?As near his"powerless God" as one can get after an engineering degree, a MSc with honors from UK , and god knows how many other feathers on his cap...And the Deepa Bhat who was suposed to be a doctor is still giving exams , still musing about her purpose in life and what she should really do..."give in" to "whirledly things"
But even though I am not sad , I have a little thought nibbling on me this morning . The more I live , the more I realise two things . I still don't have a 'purpose' in my life . (Oh,all right I DO go around proclaiming that I have found my purpose...but I seem to be taking steps in exactly the opposite direction....does that make me a loony?!?!)And second , now that I have lived some more , I have lesser time to find that purpose .It is like 5 years back I was "Chill yaar . I am only 22. Only God Buddha found a purpose in life at that age." But Now I am like "Umm . I am almost 26. And I think I will find a bigger meaning in life right after a little nap. "Sure , I have phases of 'being driven' in my life . Like I wake up and say 'Right . Today I will call the Hutch Customer care people and tell them they should be looting banks in masks and not calling themselves a telecom service provider for all the scary things they are doing to my connection'. So, little purposes about getting my cell connection up , analysing whether DSP TIGER's downside is lower than ICICI's Infrastructue...hell can they be compared at alll(blurrghhhh)ironing my clothes for the next day and such micro sized things dot my day. But there is nothing which connects all these dots ...I think and shout that I have my purpose outlined....but thats because of the fault in the Matrix's programming which makes some of us come around once in a while once our souls have been recycled enough number of times-enough to make us raw....as raw as we were on the day we were born.We(meaning I and such other poor confused souls like moi) have those short glimpses of utopia...and take as many steps forward ..but then stop.What is real?the fraction of a glimpse,or what i live everyday ..because of the glimpse is the real thing then all these dots are ,,well just a means to pass time...do i want to merely pass time,going on through a drudgeous life? or do i want to make those glimpses real and these dots a mere prop?!?!Do i want to be Neo?or some common mortal stuck in the Matrix?!!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Thoughts lead on to purposes...............-
Thoughts lead to purposes;purposes go forth in action;action form habits;habits decidecharacter & character fixes our destiny.-Tryan Edwards,American Theologian
Let me start with the true story of this little girl called Wilma Rudolph.She contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever at the age of 4,which left her left leg paralysed.She had to start using a leg brace in order to walk.The doctor said that she would never walk normally again.But her encouraging mother always told her tht if you have faith and courage,you will walk again.Wilma believed in her other and at the age of 9,she threw aside her leg braces, and dreamt of being able to run.The doctor ,obvioulst y ridiculed her dream saying”you can’t even walk”.But inspite of her handicap, ,Wilma began participating in races ,by the age of 13 .She was always last,but she had faith in her dream.In 1960 ,Wilma patticipated in the Olympics and won 3 olymic gold medals-.This got her the title of the 1st woman ever to to win 3 olympic gold medals in one year.And they said she couldn’t walk.
The journey of reaching your destiny starts from that tiny seed of thought,which leads to the conception of a legitimate purpose in your heart. It could be anything-a spiritual ideal,a worldly object. Of course I am not talking about every drifting thought.. Until your thought is linked with purpose,there is no scope for intelligent accomplishment.. Thoughts lead to purposes Once your purpose is clear,you take action to achieve your purpose and action should be alingned to and allied with the purpose. purposes go forth in action .What you repeatedly do becomes a habit. action form habits .As are your habitual thoughts and actions,so also will be the character of your mind.habits decide character .From building a strong character,like we saw in the case of Wilma,we reach our destiny .The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus quotes”Ethos Anthropos Daimon”-Man’s character is his destiny ..
Now there are a lot of people who say that what can I do…its is my destiny,It is not in my hands.But remember Aristotle’s words ”We are what we repeatedly do”Sit and crib-you will be damned,Act on your purpose with hope and conviction-you will get there.,So in short,what it means is “Sow an action,reap a habit,sow a habit…reap a character,sow a character..reap a destiny. “
Let me start with the true story of this little girl called Wilma Rudolph.She contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever at the age of 4,which left her left leg paralysed.She had to start using a leg brace in order to walk.The doctor said that she would never walk normally again.But her encouraging mother always told her tht if you have faith and courage,you will walk again.Wilma believed in her other and at the age of 9,she threw aside her leg braces, and dreamt of being able to run.The doctor ,obvioulst y ridiculed her dream saying”you can’t even walk”.But inspite of her handicap, ,Wilma began participating in races ,by the age of 13 .She was always last,but she had faith in her dream.In 1960 ,Wilma patticipated in the Olympics and won 3 olymic gold medals-.This got her the title of the 1st woman ever to to win 3 olympic gold medals in one year.And they said she couldn’t walk.
The journey of reaching your destiny starts from that tiny seed of thought,which leads to the conception of a legitimate purpose in your heart. It could be anything-a spiritual ideal,a worldly object. Of course I am not talking about every drifting thought.. Until your thought is linked with purpose,there is no scope for intelligent accomplishment.. Thoughts lead to purposes Once your purpose is clear,you take action to achieve your purpose and action should be alingned to and allied with the purpose. purposes go forth in action .What you repeatedly do becomes a habit. action form habits .As are your habitual thoughts and actions,so also will be the character of your mind.habits decide character .From building a strong character,like we saw in the case of Wilma,we reach our destiny .The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus quotes”Ethos Anthropos Daimon”-Man’s character is his destiny ..
Now there are a lot of people who say that what can I do…its is my destiny,It is not in my hands.But remember Aristotle’s words ”We are what we repeatedly do”Sit and crib-you will be damned,Act on your purpose with hope and conviction-you will get there.,So in short,what it means is “Sow an action,reap a habit,sow a habit…reap a character,sow a character..reap a destiny. “
Lost!!!!!!!
Lost!!!
Lat few days have benn a confusion of exhiliriation and pain....9th April,Sunday,Will not forget this glorious day.I went climbing to GT after a span of almost 2 months.I met Diesel at the wide gates of my beloved SGNP .Kavita joined a while later. Also met Rahul who'd come there for some camp.We proceeded to the bouldering area at Gt.On the way...mum called up sayin that I had to go to Suhasinakkas place at Thane to sign up some forms...Arrgghhh!!!There goes my perfect Sunday.My original plan was to climb,then be back home for lunch where Manisha and R would be coming.But all down the drain ,in a way.R would kill me if she knew the end to HER Puurrrfect sunday!!1Right on cue,she calls up imediately after.I told her what I had to do..and there she starts lecturing again...about how i ALWAYS do this to her-ditch her at the last moment and blah blah..and the phone gets cut...She calls again and starts shouting -WHY DID THE HELL you cut me off...hell!!i dint do nuthing memsahib.......the phone gets cut again...she calls again..another few mins of firing...then she asks me to leave immediately(its about 10 am),reach home,collect the papers and leave for her place..so tht we cn catch the 2 pm movie -Being Cyrus...wtf!!!!!I had not even unharnessed my heavy backpack as i was distracted talking to her...taking her baseless and selfish insinutions quietly....I told he rin no uncertain terms tht it was NOT POSSIBLE for me to leave..hell!i'd hardly reached there!SO she said big deal!I have to make some adjustments blah blah!I then told her that I wasnt alone..there were 2 more gals with me,and I could'nt and wouldn't leave emalone.Its way too dangeous.If I leave,theyd leave too...and tht would be unfair..as we'd planned this climb atleast a week before I'd met R!!!Fine!!She banged the phone down...and then called again accusing me once more of hanging up on her!!WTH!!And then she asked me again(imagine...we'd already wasted precious mins discussing)whether I could meet her....I said NO...well,...BYE...Peace at last:)I know I sound so mean in a way..and I did...I agree i ruined her Sunday...but she was the one who could have compromised..to spend some time with her "best friend"My guess is that she only wanted some company to watch a movie,now that Mr G is outta her life.Hmmph!!!
Anyways,after the initial Grumpy begining,we began our bouldering.But the bad begginning that had rubbed into my heart....it starteing rubbing on my fingers too...i mean literally yaar....my fingers are raw...everyone's fingers got raw..So much that at the end of the day,,,although we were hardly tired,are fingers were goners!The I think at about 7,a new guiy,with an American accent walked in and took off his shirt and started climbing with us.Initially each of us respectfully ignored each other..but then the temptation to spot such a good climber(Ahem)was too much for us i guess...so we started talking about climbing etc,..realised tht he's originally frm mumbai''hed' gone to US to study and come back to india only a few days ago.He found GT frm the net(Thank God!!!)Anyways,turns out that he stays at 4 bungalows.ANyway.Mum calls up to tell me tht Mani has already arrived!!Oh Shit!!!Ok we all decide to wrap up and leave...when we are on our way to the gates, i realise tht my sunglasses are ,missing!!!!!MISSING!!!!!!My expensive and dear ones:((.Anyway Sharad then tells me tht he'd seen em lying rite in th middle of the path when he was coming...hmmso me and the guys head back up to search for em..but we OBVIOUSLY dont find em...so we trudge back to the gate...in the sweltering heat!!!!We get to the station.Me n Shantanu(new guy ..remember!!) got into the train.We had some interesting conversations...hes from Parle tilak and VESIT..and he's learnt Portuguese and Spanish...hes lvisited loads of places ..coz he loves travelling...Anyway..Mai calle dm e around Indian oil...SHantanu got off at 4' blows.Then I was revelling in my own thoughts.the conversations had mitigated my sadness of the loss of my sunglasses.BUT THEN....when i got up to gt off at Lokhandwala...my celly wasn't there...it just wasnn't there!!!!!Now that loss hit me hard,,,....and i mean realll hard!!!!
Not that I cried or anything..but still...a phones a phone:)
And then 2 days later,am hit hard again....wit hthe loss of a part of my body...my tooth....my wisdom tooth had to go for the pain it was causing me!!i had a root canal on another tooth....
So there it is...3 things gone in the span of 2 days...what did i get?
i met Soares miss
and i met Harsh's dad
yeah in a quirk of fate..i met him at the citibank atm at khar after my root canal..and all the while i had been thinking about Harsh..coz he had undrgone a root canal bfore he went to japan!
Anyway,the most interesting thing was tht while i was undergoing the tooth thinng..my mind was wrking over time,..it was as if i was dictating to my diary..i cant eactly remember wat i was thinking...all i remember was tht it was very poetic:)
ANyways,thats wat I lost and gained in 3 days!!!
Lat few days have benn a confusion of exhiliriation and pain....9th April,Sunday,Will not forget this glorious day.I went climbing to GT after a span of almost 2 months.I met Diesel at the wide gates of my beloved SGNP .Kavita joined a while later. Also met Rahul who'd come there for some camp.We proceeded to the bouldering area at Gt.On the way...mum called up sayin that I had to go to Suhasinakkas place at Thane to sign up some forms...Arrgghhh!!!There goes my perfect Sunday.My original plan was to climb,then be back home for lunch where Manisha and R would be coming.But all down the drain ,in a way.R would kill me if she knew the end to HER Puurrrfect sunday!!1Right on cue,she calls up imediately after.I told her what I had to do..and there she starts lecturing again...about how i ALWAYS do this to her-ditch her at the last moment and blah blah..and the phone gets cut...She calls again and starts shouting -WHY DID THE HELL you cut me off...hell!!i dint do nuthing memsahib.......the phone gets cut again...she calls again..another few mins of firing...then she asks me to leave immediately(its about 10 am),reach home,collect the papers and leave for her place..so tht we cn catch the 2 pm movie -Being Cyrus...wtf!!!!!I had not even unharnessed my heavy backpack as i was distracted talking to her...taking her baseless and selfish insinutions quietly....I told he rin no uncertain terms tht it was NOT POSSIBLE for me to leave..hell!i'd hardly reached there!SO she said big deal!I have to make some adjustments blah blah!I then told her that I wasnt alone..there were 2 more gals with me,and I could'nt and wouldn't leave emalone.Its way too dangeous.If I leave,theyd leave too...and tht would be unfair..as we'd planned this climb atleast a week before I'd met R!!!Fine!!She banged the phone down...and then called again accusing me once more of hanging up on her!!WTH!!And then she asked me again(imagine...we'd already wasted precious mins discussing)whether I could meet her....I said NO...well,...BYE...Peace at last:)I know I sound so mean in a way..and I did...I agree i ruined her Sunday...but she was the one who could have compromised..to spend some time with her "best friend"My guess is that she only wanted some company to watch a movie,now that Mr G is outta her life.Hmmph!!!
Anyways,after the initial Grumpy begining,we began our bouldering.But the bad begginning that had rubbed into my heart....it starteing rubbing on my fingers too...i mean literally yaar....my fingers are raw...everyone's fingers got raw..So much that at the end of the day,,,although we were hardly tired,are fingers were goners!The I think at about 7,a new guiy,with an American accent walked in and took off his shirt and started climbing with us.Initially each of us respectfully ignored each other..but then the temptation to spot such a good climber(Ahem)was too much for us i guess...so we started talking about climbing etc,..realised tht he's originally frm mumbai''hed' gone to US to study and come back to india only a few days ago.He found GT frm the net(Thank God!!!)Anyways,turns out that he stays at 4 bungalows.ANyway.Mum calls up to tell me tht Mani has already arrived!!Oh Shit!!!Ok we all decide to wrap up and leave...when we are on our way to the gates, i realise tht my sunglasses are ,missing!!!!!MISSING!!!!!!My expensive and dear ones:((.Anyway Sharad then tells me tht he'd seen em lying rite in th middle of the path when he was coming...hmmso me and the guys head back up to search for em..but we OBVIOUSLY dont find em...so we trudge back to the gate...in the sweltering heat!!!!We get to the station.Me n Shantanu(new guy ..remember!!) got into the train.We had some interesting conversations...hes from Parle tilak and VESIT..and he's learnt Portuguese and Spanish...hes lvisited loads of places ..coz he loves travelling...Anyway..Mai calle dm e around Indian oil...SHantanu got off at 4' blows.Then I was revelling in my own thoughts.the conversations had mitigated my sadness of the loss of my sunglasses.BUT THEN....when i got up to gt off at Lokhandwala...my celly wasn't there...it just wasnn't there!!!!!Now that loss hit me hard,,,....and i mean realll hard!!!!
Not that I cried or anything..but still...a phones a phone:)
And then 2 days later,am hit hard again....wit hthe loss of a part of my body...my tooth....my wisdom tooth had to go for the pain it was causing me!!i had a root canal on another tooth....
So there it is...3 things gone in the span of 2 days...what did i get?
i met Soares miss
and i met Harsh's dad
yeah in a quirk of fate..i met him at the citibank atm at khar after my root canal..and all the while i had been thinking about Harsh..coz he had undrgone a root canal bfore he went to japan!
Anyway,the most interesting thing was tht while i was undergoing the tooth thinng..my mind was wrking over time,..it was as if i was dictating to my diary..i cant eactly remember wat i was thinking...all i remember was tht it was very poetic:)
ANyways,thats wat I lost and gained in 3 days!!!
My FIrst Trek-Chanderi
3/7/2005----trip to chanderi.
My very first trek…..left home the night before to go to Neeti’splace amidst a frown fraught with anger and dissaproval from my dad…….all nite long cudnt help thinking wat my fate wud be when I returned….wud this first trek be my last trek too???
Neeti looked tired…but her mind was abuzz with recipes…”What to bake/cook”She amazed me by stayin awake to cook pasta and bake a choco –cake.(Her eyes without exception close at 10pm on any other day) .Managed to wrap up by 1 am.Got a sms frm Srikumar…sayin he cudnt get no sleep…so we spoke at length,speculating about the trek,with comments from a half-asleep neeti in the background.Woke up at 4 am next morning,finished our morning biddings,left home,and reached the pre-decided place of Pritam Hotel(Dadar),caught a busride to Panvel ,had breakfast at a restaurant nr the bus stand,caught another busride to our destination.
Walked up a concrete path for about 30 mins to the base…..had a round of introductions and instructions from the leader of the trek-Kavita.And then started our trek to Chanderi by the Panvel route…a not-so –oft tried path.There was a huge crowd for the trek-more than 50 people.Everyone but me seemed to be an avid and experienced trekker.One guy I can’t forget is raj who had got his son along…he carried him in his bag all the way to the top….Hats off to his stamina and determination.
The trek uphill was uneventful,except for some holdups due to overgrown branches and beautiful waterfalls.The most eventful part of the trek up was the amazing wind atop Chanderi………one felt one cud just be blown off the mountain into the valley below.You could never be too careful out there…..everyone was treading cautiously and slowly.The view from atop….was breathtaking….sadly wasn’t carrying anything that wud take a lasting and tangible image of the place which is now etched in my memory.
We reached by about 1pm. after a non –taxing 3 hour trek.(Rain and waterfall refreshed us in the interim and so did Srikumar’s Glucon-D).I relaxed my eyes by looking at the vast scenery in front of me..It was a relief from staring at the muddy path ahead or at your slipping feet.Atop Chanderi is a small cave with a small temple within its recesses.Out came all the food…yumm…bread,cheese,pasta,cake,theplas,salami,egg sandwiches,chapatti –bhaji,dahi-bhaat………….food!food!and more food!
At about 2 pm,we commenced our trip down.I wont forget me innocently remarking to Vishu that the trek down would be quicker…FACT CHECK….the trip down would take more time because one has to be careful not to topple over the person ahead in that slippery terrain…
And right he was……we left in batches,giving a leeway of atleast 15-20 mins to the pervious group to get as far ahead as possible…but when we started,we could see them right there!!!as if they’d hardly moved!!We were moving at an ant’s pace…trying to keep outr feet firmly planted on slippery terrain ,and at the same time trying not to get blown away by the amazing wind.
I had a nice time….walkin down in those floaters…..The 2 waterfalls helped…in getting my muddy clothes back to their original colour.We hit the concrete road by about 630.Srikumar and Savio got this brilliant idea or runnin all the way to Panvel(bout 13 kms…)but we caught them nr the rickshaw stand,bout 4 kms away,caught a rickshaw back to Panvel ,in the bus to Mumbai at 830 ,time flew by..I had a nice nap..so did many others,the only one with her eyes wide open was Neeti.I was so thrilled with this experience I walked about half the way home(Made poor tired Srikumar do so too:p:).Back home by 1045.
Nice trip…a memorable trek for me.,being my first one.And,well about Dad,he enquired why I don’t I go trekking to the hill next to my ancestral house in Karnataka.!!!!!!!!!!!
My very first trek…..left home the night before to go to Neeti’splace amidst a frown fraught with anger and dissaproval from my dad…….all nite long cudnt help thinking wat my fate wud be when I returned….wud this first trek be my last trek too???
Neeti looked tired…but her mind was abuzz with recipes…”What to bake/cook”She amazed me by stayin awake to cook pasta and bake a choco –cake.(Her eyes without exception close at 10pm on any other day) .Managed to wrap up by 1 am.Got a sms frm Srikumar…sayin he cudnt get no sleep…so we spoke at length,speculating about the trek,with comments from a half-asleep neeti in the background.Woke up at 4 am next morning,finished our morning biddings,left home,and reached the pre-decided place of Pritam Hotel(Dadar),caught a busride to Panvel ,had breakfast at a restaurant nr the bus stand,caught another busride to our destination.
Walked up a concrete path for about 30 mins to the base…..had a round of introductions and instructions from the leader of the trek-Kavita.And then started our trek to Chanderi by the Panvel route…a not-so –oft tried path.There was a huge crowd for the trek-more than 50 people.Everyone but me seemed to be an avid and experienced trekker.One guy I can’t forget is raj who had got his son along…he carried him in his bag all the way to the top….Hats off to his stamina and determination.
The trek uphill was uneventful,except for some holdups due to overgrown branches and beautiful waterfalls.The most eventful part of the trek up was the amazing wind atop Chanderi………one felt one cud just be blown off the mountain into the valley below.You could never be too careful out there…..everyone was treading cautiously and slowly.The view from atop….was breathtaking….sadly wasn’t carrying anything that wud take a lasting and tangible image of the place which is now etched in my memory.
We reached by about 1pm. after a non –taxing 3 hour trek.(Rain and waterfall refreshed us in the interim and so did Srikumar’s Glucon-D).I relaxed my eyes by looking at the vast scenery in front of me..It was a relief from staring at the muddy path ahead or at your slipping feet.Atop Chanderi is a small cave with a small temple within its recesses.Out came all the food…yumm…bread,cheese,pasta,cake,theplas,salami,egg sandwiches,chapatti –bhaji,dahi-bhaat………….food!food!and more food!
At about 2 pm,we commenced our trip down.I wont forget me innocently remarking to Vishu that the trek down would be quicker…FACT CHECK….the trip down would take more time because one has to be careful not to topple over the person ahead in that slippery terrain…
And right he was……we left in batches,giving a leeway of atleast 15-20 mins to the pervious group to get as far ahead as possible…but when we started,we could see them right there!!!as if they’d hardly moved!!We were moving at an ant’s pace…trying to keep outr feet firmly planted on slippery terrain ,and at the same time trying not to get blown away by the amazing wind.
I had a nice time….walkin down in those floaters…..The 2 waterfalls helped…in getting my muddy clothes back to their original colour.We hit the concrete road by about 630.Srikumar and Savio got this brilliant idea or runnin all the way to Panvel(bout 13 kms…)but we caught them nr the rickshaw stand,bout 4 kms away,caught a rickshaw back to Panvel ,in the bus to Mumbai at 830 ,time flew by..I had a nice nap..so did many others,the only one with her eyes wide open was Neeti.I was so thrilled with this experience I walked about half the way home(Made poor tired Srikumar do so too:p:).Back home by 1045.
Nice trip…a memorable trek for me.,being my first one.And,well about Dad,he enquired why I don’t I go trekking to the hill next to my ancestral house in Karnataka.!!!!!!!!!!!
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