the vibrance of desert - part 2

Dear friends,

I have had the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Dubai earlier as well and everytime that I have visited I have found something new with the city.

The pace of activity has grown manifolds and today Dubai has everything that a person can dream of. The roads, malls, lighting and above all cleanliness is amazing.

lovely musical fountains outside Dubai mall

changing colours of musical fountains

Dubai with my dearest friend

call of the hills - part 3

Dear friends,
I continue with my journey in the beautiful hills of Shivalik Ranges. Let me take you along in my adventures; enjoy the journey with me:

 birds eye view from my hotel

waiting for a joy ride

outside my hotel

near my hotel

call of the hills - part 2

Dear friends,

This is in continuation to my earlier post wherein I had shared some glimpses of my adventures in the hills. 

Now some more inputs...

shades of shimla

road to heaven

time to top up..

me in my hotel

call of the hills

Dear friends,

the hills of shimla

I have somehow had the privilege to travel across many many places. All these years, at first given opportunity I have traveled and developed a passion to see places ranging from beaches to hills to plains.

I love to drive and this is what took me to the hills of Shimla. Partner me in my adventures.

on route to Shimla

the ridge

enroute to shimla

the vibrance of desert...

Dear friends,

I just had an opportunity to first hand experience the vibrance of desert city of Dubai. The colorful city built through micro planning is today an architectural marvel.

What started as an oil economy today has everything what a human mind can imagine.

I will take you on a walk through tour....

Experience it !

the burj at night

the pulsating Dubai mall

the musical fountains at Dubai mall

welcoming Dubai airport

Its indeed true that the city never sleeps...

r temples of learning

Recently I happened to come across yet another 'modus operandi' of organised corruption in our so called temples of learning; yes our 'schools'.

Its difficult to believe but it is happening. On every appointment of a teacher, management is asking for a security deposit. Well nothing wrong with it. They ought to have some assurance. But it is being asked in cash with no receipt. Pathetic situation in a place where jobs are scarce. Prospective applicants are forced into accepting it. 

Is anyone listening?

Any suggestions?

romance of the romantic city

Dear friends,

I recently had an opportunity to travel to the worlds most admired romantic city. Guess where, Paris.

Day 1 started with the visit to world famous Louvre Museum which was simply astonishing.

Day 2 at the imposing Eiffel Tower and a cruise along the Seine river

Day 3 at the Lido.

Some of the snapshots of the beautiful city of Paris....

Have a look !

Green Buildings

Dear friends,

This is in continuation with my posts on climate change, sustainability and green energy. As some of you have rightly observed that focus on such an important issue has slowly got blurred. Though much work is happening but are we really on the right track?

In line with this, very recently there has been a spurt in activities towards 'green buildings'. This concept which as usual came from the west. Under the garb of creating sustainable and low carbon foot print buildings we have started creating green buildings.

I am not against this concept but do we really need to get Leeds Certification, Platinum Ratings and so on....

With a race to get them certified we are creating state of the art infrastructure with all the latest gadgets being imported. Beautiful glass facades, exotic designs but air-conditioning run and lights glow most of the time, even though the building is supposedly green !

Can we not imbibe our own 'desi' materials and designs in our country which have the likes of 'hawa mahal'....

climate change - part 2

Dear friends,

Further to my post on climate change, I feel its more of a propaganda by the powers with vested interests. On one hand they are probably trying to scuttle our progress and on the other they are trying to dump junk renewable energy projects in the country.

In the name of setting up green projects, restrictions and stringent conditions like importing a particular equipment / technology from 'the' manufacturer to loan from 'the' borrower.

How long can we be taken for a ride?

climate change

Today all newspapers and magazines have numerous articles on climate change and its impacts. India as a country with large coast line would definitely be adversely impacted. But is it only the policy issues or public debates which would mitigate this issue. The challenge lies in educating the public at large, training and re-training of professionals and faster implementation of green projects.