Sikkim quake: Boy who starved for 3 days

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I had come to reach the tapes to the helicopter pilot at the helipad in Chungthang, the village most badly hit by the earthquake. You can almost smell death in the air. Across the helipad a mudslide had claimed a life, body yet to be recovered. "It's impossible to dig through, right now we are focussing on those who are injured and need immediate relief," an officer told me. Yet my eyes kept going back. Three people were walking down that village footpath above the helipad. They were returning after a puja at the time of the earthquake. They got caught as the hillside came crashing down on them. An Army unit positioned nearby came to their immediate rescue. Two were pulled out, fate of one no one knows. He is lost below, claimed by the earth. Could he still be alive? I was talking to ITBP Jawans who....

Sikkim quake: How Army braved odds, saved lives

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Lt Colonel MMA Hyderi of the 659th Army Aviation Squadron was going to be a father in a few days, so there was much excitement in his house somewhere in the eastern Himalayas, where the cheetah helicopters pilots are based. His co-pilot young Captain RP Gohain, was on his fist posting after having cleared his flying training this year. He has seventeen months of flying experience but in true army spirit endless passion and will to serve. I did not know the two gentlemen till I saw the video of the rescue operation and my first reaction - "something straight out of a Vietnam movie". I had never seen such daring flying.I saw the video for the first time in Chungthang. My cameraman, Guneet Singh I had attempted to trek to Lachung on the third day (21 September) after the earthquake. The roads were bad and it....

My first flight - The F/A-18 Super Hornet

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I reached the Yelahanka Air Force Base at 9 am in the morning, and I was absolutely clueless on what to expect. I was undoubtedly very excited, but also a bit scared to be on my first supersonic flight. I had already done an extensive web search on precautions to be taken before such a flight, but there were no satisfactory answers, except for this oft repeated advice on carrying an air sickness bag. The sickness bag I did carry, and to my relief I did not have to use it. Then I called up my good friend Group Captain Rameshwar Singh Talhan, who happens to be a fighter pilot, to get some advice. "Just enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity," he told me, and then I took off. The suit up and brief I was kind of blank at the Boeing flight operations....

16th Karmapa gave me my name

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He gave me my name. The 16th Karmapa has long gone, but he has always been my spiritual guide. I can recall almost all of our visits to his monastery in Rumtek, Sikkim. And I can never forget his warm smile and laughter from my first memory of the Karmapa as a 5-year-old child. He used to have an aviary, where many rescued and donated birds were kept. My father - who belonged to the animal husbandry department in the government - used to volunteer in looking after the birds and cattle of the monastery. Once on my visit to the monastery, I was amused to see a tiny little bird resting on Kamapa's hand. A monk later told me that all dead and dying birds are brought to him for special prayers... "They die in peace in his hand," the monk had told me. I never saw Karmapa....

The Tiger's Call

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Never thought I would see a tiger in the wild. My audience with royalty has been restricted to zoos where they lay looking malnourished, depressed and extremely edgy; an exhibit for all to see. I have visited some national parks across the country, but never insisted on seeing the tiger. The guides and drives say its rare; I am just happy to smell the earth and breathe to my hearts content. There's also guilt that our race has left so little for them and I am intruding that limited space. My New Year visit to Ranthambore was to awaken the activist in me and to take my resolve to actively participate and support conservation programmes.

Day 1: First drive into the national park was joyous; the park is one of the few dry deciduous forests with some forty tigers (forest department census).....

New legal bio equipment to cut electricity bills by over 70%

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Election gone, subsidy gone. Like everything you will now have to pay more for power. In future, if things go this way, electricity will perhaps constitute about 40 per cent or even more of your home operating costs. So, if you are one of those into heavy forward planning you will perhaps invest in non conventional modes of energy. I found this rather interesting piece of equipment that immediately helped me lower my electricity bill by over 70 per cent. The best part is that I invested just under Rs 200; could have been cheaper had I bought it off the street. It's also brought me tremendous joy. Immediately, after I had installed my Cut Electricity 1.0, the bio mechanism kicked off, it was alive in a day or two. Caution: the bio machine does not show immediate results it requires an incubation period of over 15....

Trouble in the Tea Gardens

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The lifeline to Sikkim and Darjeeling district, NH-31, was bought to a standstill by Gorkha Janamukti Morcha activists. I travelled along the highway to get you these pictures. The situation is quite bad so tourists are advised to stay away. Getting out of Rangpo and making it to Siliguri requires "connections" now, the West Bengal police escort for Sikkim convoys are only marginally effective. My move out in an attempt to understand the ground situation took a call to the head of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Bimal Gurung last evening. GJMM activists blocking NH-31A This morning, two boys turned up at Sikkim Rangpo to escort me into GJM controlled NH-31A. They prepared "papers" signed by the GJM convenor Lokesh Chettri who manned the first picket at Rangpo. Meanwhile, also at Rangpo, an earnest effort was being made....

Mr Thackeray, the aliens are coming

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There is proof these days that we are not the only ones in the Galaxy. There could be many other suns therefore many other similar solar systems that could possible support life. There have been numerous sightings of UFO's around the world. Some people even claim to have been abducted by them. Last month a mysterious object was spotted in the sky in Ladner British Columbia, Canada, possibly a UFO. Closer home last year as Early as October 2007, a videographer shot strange lights over Kolkata. The British have their BEAMS or The British Earth and Aerial Mysteries Society to keep track of such sightings. The Americans are even more careful. Apparently, the NASA and their government are actively tracking their movements using state-of-the-art equipment. An attempt was made by Hollywood filmmakers to highlight their seriousness. Movies like Independence Day, Mars Attacks and also War of the....

Friday , October 05, 2007

India made Chinese

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The visit to the World Horticulture Expo Garden was like visiting Delhi's Pragati Maidan. The only difference, or rather the big difference was the size and the fact that it was maintained so much better. It was tough to decide what was real and what was not. We got a great welcome.

• A walk in the flowers

• South Indian Gods in China

The Yunan Nationalities Village is like a huge reservation. The village houses about 26 nationalities from the province. The entire area has been wonderfully landscaped and is a great place to spend the day especially if you want to know about the ethnic communities of Yunan.