Stupid Questions Techies can (will ) ask !

After having attended / conducted numerous technical trainings in my career , I am always fascinated by the repeated(Same old stupid) questions people ask during Tech Trainings .I am not sure if these are mandatory questions a techie should ask ( someone should publish such a book ! ) but makes for wonderful amusement. I have nothing against techies ( Technically speaking I am one too ) , but its just some humour at someone's expense . No offence meant to any person / company , living or dead :-)

FAQ by Techies (and the answers are by me :-) )

Q1. You told this application works on this port number by default . Can i change it ?
A1. No . You can't.God has pre-ordained that this application will work only on this port.How can you change God's rules ? (Hey every damn person knows that this can be changed. why the hell ask the Q ?)

Q2. Is this version 1.1.3.1 or 1.1.3.2 ?
A2 : This is actually version 1.1.3.1.But since it was feeling alone , they cloned the software and released its brother who is 1.1.3.2 .

Q3. What are the additional features when compared to the previous version ?
A3 : Give a long list of things most of which hardly work and the rest is hardly useful

Q4. I have worked with a similar application before which does the same things .
A4 : No . Its not possible. we obtained license from the God for the Intellectual property of this entire segment. Please tell us the company , we will sue them .

Q5. How stable is the application ?
A5. This application is the most stable & robust available in the market. In fact at one of our client's site which runs this application on a PC , the application has been running continuously for the last 25 years , in fact even before the PC was invented !

Q6. Do I have to pay for the License ? Is there any Trial period available ?
A6 : Our endeavor is to make the world a better place. In fact we give money to you to run our application .

Friends

They came,they conquered and now they are going. After almost a Decade of ruling over the viewers the six friends are ready to hang up the boot. The last episode of the Sitcom would be telecast on 6th May. Friends is about to become History ( of course the re-runs will always be there) .

What makes the sitcom tick ? The humour in Friends is genuinely funny and the vibe between the six characters is great so much so that the friday office aircooler talks are always centered on the previous day episode of Friends or Seinfeld.

Though Seinfeld remains my favourite comedy sitcom , I have always enjoyed friends. Chandler & Phoebe are my favourites. Probably one day I will buy the entire episodes of Friends on DVD/VCD !

What is Success ?

I get inspiring quotes everyday by email. Got this one a few days back. Its by John Wooden ( The Legendary College Basketball coach of UCLA ) .

Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming - John Wooden

Google

No Company symbolises the internet as much as Google. Perhaps the biggest tribute to its search prowess , is that Google is used more as a verb these days than as a Noun. When Sergey Brin & Larry page built the search algorithm at Stanford , they would not have realized they would change the world in such a big way (Not to forget the way Google has changed their lives too with an impending IPO). As the company moves forward and introduces new tools it also faces tremendous competition from the Big boys Microsoft,Yahoo & others . Not only will Google compete with these rivals in the future but also It has to protect its search turf as Microsoft,Yahoo spruce up their search capabilities.

The latest Businessweek had a nice article on the Challenges Google faces in the future and how important it is for the company and for the internet community the upshot of this new rivalry.

Ranthambore Wildlife Sanctuary

" Ranthambore" . The mere mention of the name evokes exhilaration for nature lovers and ignites their passion towards the Tiger . Ranthambore Situated in Eastern Rajasthan ( 400 kms from Delhi) is one of the biggest success stories of Project Tiger and is named after the two hills surmounting the Sanctuary viz. Ran & Thambore.We (a Group of Six friends) decided to go there this past weekend and started on the Saturday early morning.At the end of 7 hours drive we finally reached Sawoi Madhopur (The nearest Town) . Ranthambore is a huge sanctuary covering around 450 Sq.kms and has around 42 Tigers (32 - Adults , 10 - cubs) and other animals like Leopard,Jackals,Hyena,Sloth Bears,Chitals,Chinkaras,Nilghais,Sambhars,Langurs,Peacocks,Alligators,mongoose and a large number of birds.

There are two ways to travel inside the Sanctuary, either by Jeeps or by Canters . Jeeps are normally pre-booked months earlier (mostly by foreigners) but the open canters are available for booking on the same day. There are two visits , either in the morning (6.30 am) or in the afternoon (3 pm) . We decided to take the Saturday afternoon and sunday morning trips. We started our afternoon trip on a mini-canter (10 seater) . Inside the forest we spotted plenty of Deers (Sambhars,Chitals,Nilghais),Langurs,Peacocks. The forest was very dry and we decided to head towards the Rajbagh lake (the biggest of the lakes inside the forest) in the hope of sighting a Tiger heading towards the Jheel to quench its thirst.

Oh boy ! There it was. Sitting Majestically on a Mantap just close the Lake. The face was clearly visible,staring at us rather nonchalantly . We waited for more than 30 mins for it to get up but unfortunately it didn't.We also spotted plenty of water birds like Egrets,Painted storks,Herons,ibises,kingfishers etc. We were extremely excited on having sighted a tiger and headed back to the Hotel ( Hotel Ganesh - a decent one, close to the Railway station) .

The next morning we started again this time on a 20 seater canter. I was doubtful about sighting a tiger in the morning since it might not be feeling thirsty and hence would be deep inside the forest. We again spotted plenty of Deers,peacocks,Langurs and some mongoose too. Suddenly we saw a huge queue of vehicles ahead of us. In a forest this means someone has sighted a tiger. The next few minutes were unforgettable. We saw a Tigress almost 100 feet away from us sitting along with its cub (probably 2-3 years old). The tigress had lost all fear of humans and inspite of the 10 Jeeps/Canters with 100 odd people,it remained Phlegmatic , occasionally licking its cub. It was a marvelous sight , one I would cherish for a long time to come. We then went to see the Ranthambore fort (Built in 13th Century) , which was almost in ruins. But the view from the top of the fort was fantastic and after that we started driving back to Delhi in our Scorpio.

Although the Lion is hailed as the king of the forest , its the tiger that has fascinated Mankind for years . After having read the Jim Corbett Omnibus ( Books such as Man-eaters of Kumaon , Temple Tigers, Champawat Tiger) , I had always been fascinated by the Tiger . After visits to numerous sanctuaries around the country, finally got the opportunity to go to Ranthambore - the best of all.

The project tiger has been greatly responsible for saving this wonderful mammal from extinction . Tigers have been hunted for their coats and for medicinal purposes or as a token of hunting pride ( Only Humans psyche is capable of celebrating something as trivial as this , that too in a unevenly matched contest ).

Tigers are facing major population losses & extinction. Tigers are killed for sport, skins & body parts. The 1950s saw extinction of the Caspian tiger. The Bali and Java tiger are also extinct. India today has the largest number of tigers, between 3,600 to 4,000.

Why Save Tigers?

Tiger is symbol of wilderness and well-being of the ecosystem. By conserving and saving tigers the entire wilderness ecosystem is conserved. In nature, barring human beings and their domesticates, rest of the ecosystem is wild. Hence conserving wilderness is important and crucial to maintain the life support system. So saving tiger amounts to saving the ecosystem which is crucial for man's own survival.


Travel Tips : The Best Time to sight a tiger is during hot summer months of April-June . Make sure that you plan at least two visits to increase your chance of spotting a tiger.Wear loose light clothes in Summer and Woolen in Winter. Always carry a Good camera & Binoculars to spot & photograph wildlife. Do not talk or make loud noises inside the sanctuary nor should one get down from the Vehicle. Keep your eyes & ears open and the mouth shut.

Quality Control

Quality is the mantra across boardrooms these days. ISO:9000/1, CMM Level 5, TQM,Deming,Six Sigma etc are heard across the corridors of every organization as they strive to achieve Quality in all things .

If there is an Industry where Quality is the hallmark , then its the Food & Beverage Industry. Today one of my colleagues left the company and gave a Treat at Saravana Bhavan in Connought Place,Delhi.Well for all those uninitiated, Saravana Bhavan is as strong a Brand as Deming/Six Sigma when it comes to Quality. Though the Hotel Chain's owner got on the wrong side of the law , the food chain is still the ultimate food heaven for a madrasi. I am amazed at the way they maintain the Quality of their food. The reason why I am saying this is I have had saravana Bhavan food in Chennai,Delhi,Singapore & USA and all of them taste almost the same , which is no mean achievement.Quality doesn't just come only through Big five consultants & army of MBA's/engineers , Quality can be achieved even my modest people with the right intentions.

GMAIL

The long awaited king of mails has arrived. Ever since Google announced the unbelievable 1GB mailbox size , I had been wanting to sign up for Gmail. But Alas, the registration was restricted to only people who had invitation ( Suspiciously sounds like some 16th Century English aristocratic party !!) . All Blogger users were given the invite today (fellow bloggers logon to www.blogger.com ) and I got the login ID I wanted ( Isn't that an achievement in the mail parlance !!) . Hope GMAIL lives upto the tremendous reputation Google has built up in its other products. " Its a small step for mail users but a great leap for the internet ! "

Okhla Bird Sanctuary

I had written about my visit to Okhla Bird Sanctuary a few weeks ago. Shouvik & I decided to spread awareness about the existence of such a Sanctuary and also the need to protect it. We posted a Write-up in the NDTV Website. Here is the URL .

Thanks to a friend of mine (Akash) , Hindustan Times also wrote an article about the neglect of the Sanctuary and we were interviewed for that article by Anu . The Article came in the Last Thursday edition of HT . I will try to scan it & post it soon. Sadly in India environmental awareness is the least of priority because we have far too many other problems to contend with. But the relation between Nature & Animals is a very tenuous one and unless we take steps to protect it , our survival would remain a question mark as we head towards the future.

Fairchild Eight (Traitorous eight) !

The Boss isn't always right ( Ha , I am not trying to Dilbert you on this ! ) . I left my earlier job when I found that my new manager was impossible to work with .

Great inventors not necessarily make great bosses. Was Reading the story of the Fairchild eight ( The Eight bright people who found Shockley - Inventor of Transistor , impossible to work with ) and left to found Fairchild Semiconductor.The eight men were Julius Blank, Victor Grinich, Jean Hoerni, Gene Kleiner, Jay Last, Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce, and Sheldon Roberts ( At least three names ring a Bell - Gordon Moore,Robert Noyce,Gene Kleiner).

Gordon Moore,Robert Noyce later co-founded Intel,Gene Kleiner founded one of the biggest VC firms (KPCB - Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers). The other 5 amongst themselves co-founded Teledyne,Xicor . Wow . What an achievement for a group which was referred to as traitorous eight !

Here is their Photo :

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Control Your Destiny or someone else will

Just finished reading this book. Though the book's title sounds like a Self-help Personality development book , the Book is about GE in the 80's & 90's and how it transformed itself from a Colossus to a nimble warrior.Here are the six golden rules of Jack Welch for doing business :

1. Control your destiny, or someone else will.

2. Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.

3. Be candid with everyone.

4. Don't manage, lead.

5. Change before you have to.

6. If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.

Would you have invested ?

Appearances are deceptive . The Photo is more remnant of the pop-hippie culture than a Tech Co. Here is a Photograph taken of Microsoft Employees in 1978 (Yes it was a 11 employee company then !) . It was based in New Mexico (Later it moved to WA , where it is currently based) . On seeing the Photo , would you have invested ? That is why appearances are deceptive !

Infosys - Joins the Billion Dollar League !

Infy joined the Billion Dollar (Yearly Revenue) league and celebrated it with a big party . If you had invested in 100 shares of Infosys during the IPO in 1993 (Worth Rs.9500 then) , they would be worth a Whooping Sum of 88 Lakh Rupees Today !! How is that for a ROI ?

Crystal Ball Gazing - The FORTUNE Way

This must be the icing on the cake. Its just not our Self-belief , now the Globe believes that this century belongs to India & China. The FORTUNE issued Dated 12th April , is a special edition on the Golden Jubilee of Fortune 500 Lists (The Lists commenced in 1954). An article part of that issue was a futuristic prediction by Peter Schwartz ( Former Royal Dutch/Shell Executive & Creative consultant to movies like Minority report) about the Top 10 Fortune companies in 2054 . Here are some vignettes from that article (I am just posting some excerpts which are of relevance) :

Top 10 Companies in 2054 :

1. AmazonBay (Formed by Merger of Amazon & e-bay ) : the first 500 company to break $10 trillion in revenues. AmazonBay, the first and largest, came into being when Amazon and eBay merged in 2015, then bought Ask Jeeves a few months later. Over the next few years AmazonBay bought a bank, a credit card company, and an insurance company to increase the services it could offer.

2. Indosoft : Computers woke up in 2043. But revolutionary change in the software business began years earlier as the U.S. giants began to be dominated by their Indian talent. Over time the network of global Indian clans moved their center of action from the U.S. to India. So in 2020, when Microsoft and Oracle merged, it just seemed natural to change the name to Indosoft and move the headquarters to the new Gatestown complex in Mumbai.


3. Pattelco : Communication technologies and the companies that deliver them help shape their eras. The telephone (Bell), television (RCA), the Internet (Cisco), and mobile phones (Nokia) all defined their moments in time. In 2054 the technology that is redefining our lives is telepresence, and the key company is Pattelco.The Indian software giant, originally a software startup of the Patel clan, bought the remnants of AT&T in 2025 and incorporated the long-distance company's initials in its name when it launched the telepresence (TP) industry.

There are only four companies from the current list that figure in the 2054 list and they are IBM,Toyota,News Corp & Nestle . For full Details about this article either Visit Fortune.com (But its a paid site) or click on this URL .

Tamil - Part-2

Happy Tamil new Year everyone (Iniya Tamizh Puthaandu Nalvaazthukkal) . Continuing with my yesterday's post , a few more thoughts on the language. Since I studied in CBSE , we had no language subject after 10th Standard and my ties with the language slowly began to wane. Except for the magazines I used to read , I hardly read any serious stuff in the language . I used to read a lot of English Fiction when I was in School & College and it never occured to me at that time that I was missing out a lot by not reading anything in Tamil.

Years later after I started working , I attended a Book fair during one of my Chennai visits.I happened to see Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan at the Book fair and decided to buy it after having heard a lot about it from my Grandmother. That was a turning point. I was hooked to that Novel. Beautifully sketched Characters ( Vandhiya Thevan & Aazhvaarkku Adiyan almost lived with me for a few months after reading the book ! ) & rich vivid imagination marked Kalki's prose . I later bought the entire set of Kalki's collections including Sivagamiyin Sabatham,Paarthiban Kanavu,Kalvanin Kaathali,Thyaga Bhoomi. I also started reading other Tamil humorists like Devan & Saavi. Also later became interested in Poetry and started off with Modern poets like Bharathiar,Kannadasan & Vairamuthu.

The language as it exists today has changed a lot. The Tamil Cinema & Television have competed very well with each other in slowly killing the language ( The TV Tamil is a unique tamil where you get to hear one tamil world after nine english words , Cinema has been responsible for making Chennai slum tamil a standard and making expletives popular to the Nation ). There have been some concerted efforts to save the language but with increased tendency among the urban people to switch over to english , the language faces a lot of Challenge. However some of the best Tamil is spoken abroad at Sri Lanka or Singapore/Malasiya where the spirit is still alive.Let us hope the tamil Language survives the challanges and continues to thrive in the centuries to come.

Tamil - Part - 1

Its strange that you start loving your mother Tongue once you are away from your Hometown. Its been almost 7 years since I have left Madras ( and TN too) . I was reading a post by a friend of mine and thought of writing on this topic.

I had a wonderful Tamil teacher when I was in 8th Standard ( she continued till 10th standard) . That is when I started falling in love with the Language. We were encouraged by her to read loudly the Tamil Ilakiyam in the class. Tamil Ilakiyam is one heck of a tongue twister ! I became immensly proud of its rich literature ( TholKaappiyam,Thirukural,Iymperum Kappiangal,Aga Naanuru,Pura naanuru,Aathi Choodi,Bharathiar Paadalgal ...the list is endless) . The deep chasm between spoken Tamil & Tamil Ilakiyam (Sangam & post-sangam era) also provides an interesting and rather sad tale in Sanskritisation ( and now Anglicisation ) of the Language.The Spoken Language is totally different from its Literature.

Alongwith Sanskrit , Tamil is generally acknowledged as one of the Oldest Languages in the world. Tholkaapiyam was supposedly written in the 3rd Century B.C .According to Historians, when the Aryans entered India through the Khyber & Bholan passes, most of the Dravidians were pushed south , a fact corroborated by the fact that the ancient language Brahui (Spoken in Baluchistan ) bears a striking resemblance to Tamil. The ancient Tamils were immensely proud of their language and the Madurai Tamil Conference is a testimony to their efforts to promote the Language.The Kings encouraged the language a lot and numerous stories of poets getting rewarded for their contribution to the language are galore. Thiruvalluvar , Avvaiyaar,Ilango adigal,Kambar,Bharathiar are all tamil poets revered even today for their immeasurable contribution .

Tamil is spoken by around 80 Million people in the world . Apart from India its quite popular in Sri Lanka,Malasiya,Singapore,South Africa,W.Indies and now thanks to the Globalization in US,UK,Canada & Australia.

How to tell if your boss is happy ?

Found this nice Story.

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits. The store owner
listened to the following conversation.

The boy asked, "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?"

The woman replied, "I already have someone to cut my lawn."

"Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now."

The woman responded that she was very satisfied with the person who was presently cutting her lawn.

The little boy found more perseverance and offered, "Lady, I'll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of North Palm Beach, Florida."

Again the woman answered in the negative. With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver.

The druggist, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy and said,"Son... I like your attitude, I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job."

The little boy replied, "No thanks:) I was just checking on the job I already have!"

Same Lyrics , Different Tunes

Was listening to the Song " Chupke Chupke Raat Din " today morning , when it struck me the Same song had been sung by two different singers in two different tunes. The Jagjit singh's version is much more slower in his patented style but the song sounds wonderful by the Man who made it his signature - the inimitable Ghulam Ali .

Also is the Ghazal " Babul Mora " sung by Jagjit and its famous cousin sung by the Idol of all - K.L.Saigal .

In Tamil the songs which fit this genre are many and most of them are surprisingly Bharathiar songs . Be it " Manathil Uruthi Vendum " ( Sung by Yesudas in Sindhu Bhairavi & in the film by the same name ) .
" Kaakai Sirakinile" - Beautiful composition by L.Vaidyanathan and sung by Yesudas in " Ezhavadhu Manithan" and composed by KVM in ' Thirumaal Perumai'.
Other songs include " Nallathor Veenai Seidhu" , " Chinnanchiru Kiliye" & " Theertha Karayinile" .

What's In A Name?

Here is the Forbes Ranking of the Top 25 Brand Names in the US . Inspite of the Anti-trust & Security concerns , Microsoft is still strong at No.2 . The list is an eclectic mix of Tech,Pharma,FMCG & Media Cos.Surprising that none of the Auto majors are there . Here is the Link to the Article on the Forbes Website.

1. Procter & Gamble
2. Microsoft
3. Merck
4. Intel
5. Eli Lilly
6. IBM
7. Cisco Systems
8. Medtronic
9. UPS
10. PepsiCo
11. General Electric
12. Goldman Sachs
13. Coca-Cola
14. Anheuser-Busch
15. Pfizer
16. Johnson & Johnson
17. Viacom
18. Citigroup
19. Kimberly-Clark
20. Colgate-Palmolive
21. Aflac
22. Nike
23. General Mills
24. Kellogg
25. Harley-Davidson

The Average Indian Cricket fan

I pity them . The average Indian cricket fan. Their mood swings are extreme ranging from exuberance at India's victory or a Sachin's century to despair and charges of match-fixing whenever we lose badly. The psyche of a fan is pretty much like that of an Indian voter.In the long run nothing stays in his mind and all is forgotten with the eternal hope of optimism.

At my workplace , we have an internal communication forum called " News & Views" . Yesterday found a lot of people cribbing about India's dismal performance and throwing allegations of match-fixing. Amusingly these were the same guys who were on top of the world last week and crowning the Sehwags & Pathans as the best cricketers around.Such swings in mood are nothing new in Indian cricket fans and could be universally found across the cross-section of the country. Stories of cardiac arrests & seizures are common during nail-biting cricket matches . I was a big fan of cricket myself earlier ( Not that crazy anymore) and hence relate to their feelings.Indians in general are very emotional people and cricket (being a religion here) has seeped deep into their psyche.

At times it has also been strangely associated with patriotism. If you either do not watch cricket or support an opponent , then you are not patriotic ! I remember Bertrand Russel's wonderful quote on Patriotism .

" Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons -- Bertrand Russel "

Cricket is a sport , please do not make it an obsession.

IBM acquires Daksh eServices

Amidst fear of Backlash and Federal opposition to offshoring , comes the news that IBM has acquired Daksh eServices (India's 3rd Largest BPO company) . It proves the fact that BPO is a Sunshine Industry and with Global Majors interested in it , its good news for India . Here is a report in FT .

Pulse Polio Day

In co-ordination with UNICEF & Rotary we took part in the Pulse polio drive today. We set-up booths at various sectors in Noida and administered the polio drops to the kids. At the end of the day we had administered Polio drops to around 1,250 kids (most of them from the Slums) . I was part of a Mobile Polio unit and drove all around Noida to most of the slums and administered the drops. We gave free pencils to all the kids which worked as magic. It served as a motivation for most of the kids to take the drops in the Slums. To think that more than 50% of those kids have never been to a school made me really sad. If Noida which is considered to be a affluent suburb of Delhi has 50% illiterate kids in slums then I shudder to think of Rural U.P & Bihar. There is so much that needs to be done at the grassroots level to spread the need for literacy.

Once again as the Chariman of the Social Services Committee at my workplace , I learnt a lot during this event. Right from co-ordinating with UNICEF,Rotary, Getting volunteers from our employees , managing these booths, Doing a write-up for our Intranet,Meeting with the Press etc etc...its been one roller-coaster of a management experienece. I also realized community service can be great fun apart from being emotionally satisfying . Gandhiji is perhaps right. India lives in its villages & Slums. If we can educate all these kids at the slums all around the country , we are the Superpower.God bless our country.

Alternate Careers - Part-2

The story continues..I was in 8th standard when our principal arranged for a 7-day trip to Kanyakumari,Thirunelveli,Kalakkadu & Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. The trip cost us just Rs.300 (It was subsidized by the WWF & Forest office). I was mesmerised by the forests & wildlife. We had a great time when a bear started beating our guest house doors after smelling some Bananas & when a leopard jumped right in front of us almost 20 feat ahead when we were marching on the Main Road. A curious friend of mine cited some Agmark ( This guy confused pugmarks with agmark (famous thru Gingely oil ads) and came running to the principal telling them he cited a tiger's agmark to which the principal replied Tigers do not cook food amidst peals of laughter !!) . The forest life was fascinating with early morning baths in the river , Treks,wildlife & bird-watching , Camp fires etc. It was a whole new world and needless to say most of us fell in love with it. The forest ranger regaled us with incredible animal stories and that started a fascination in me to become a Forest ranger . I had vaguely heard about Jim Corbett back then and immediately after the trip was over , I was reading all his books and deriving inspiration. That my uncle was very closely involved in Wildlife Conservation also triggered a passion.

Now on reflection I realize the problem with pursuing dreams in India are fear of financial insecurity & the society. A Tam-Bram either has to be a Engineer (Preferably Comp.Sci ) or a Chartered Accountant .Its unthinkable to think of anything otherwise. The fascination continued with wildlife but it became a hobby instead of a career. Though I remain still very passionate about it (the interest having translated to Occasional visits to Sanctuaries,Reading books on Animal Kingdom,watching National Geographic/Discovery/Animal Planet, Building a collection of NGC Multimedia CD-ROMs ) , at best my knowledge could be termed half-baked and I will never remain a professional conservationist.

Okhla Bird Sanctuary

It all started yesterday evening during the Dinner. Was having dinner with a few friends at the office and then the conversation veered towards Wildlife/Bird-watching & Travel. A friend (Shouvik) of mine mentioned about the Okhla Bird Sanctuary situated right below the Delhi-Noida DND Flyover and we decided to explore it . I had heard of it through my BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) newsgroups .

Today morning armed with Nikon Camera,Binocs we started at 5am for the Sanctuary. It was such a non-descript place with hardly any people . We had to search and travel across kutcha roads before finding a small board proclaiming " Welcome to Okhla Bird Sanctuary" . The sunrise was beautiful amidst the tall grasses and we spotted a lot of water birds like Cormorants,Partridges,White Herons,Ducks,Egrets. The Salim Ali's Book of Indian Birds was a great help in spotting the birds.We were the only two people there and spent more than two hours photographing & sighting birds.

Unfortunately the place is heavily polluted with Plastics & garbage. People travel all the way here and dump the garbage in the water which is very sad. Hope the Govt declares the place as a protected site and prohibits trespassers.