2009 – a fantastic year comes to a close!

Another year comes to a close! First, let me wish you all a fantastic New Year ahead! May all your wishes and dreams turn true!!!

To me, 2009 turned out to be one of my best years so far! Many firsts, many challenges overcome and goals reached, an addition of a cutie-pie in my family (baby girl) and much more!

The most important thing was the birth of my daughter! She was born on 21-Nov-2009. She has changed me forever. My world is now filled with fairy tales! Here is a pic of her.

Financially too, the year has been great. I reached my personal networth goal for 2009 in July itself, aided hugely by the stock market surge. I managed to better my own goal by 33%… inspite of more than expected spending. My yearly savings figure for 2009 stood at 51.6%.

If you kept adding to your folio during the downturn without listening to naysayers, you made a killing. The Nifty in 1 year went from 2959 to 5201, a rise of almost 76%. If you picked your stocks well, you even made 3-5 baggers. My biggest gainers were Yes bank, BEL, LMW, GDL, etc all of which had a high weightage in my folio in addition to Nifty bees and Junior nifty bees. Ever since the Nifty hit P/E of 18+, I had been a seller. In Sept, Nifty P/E hit 22 and I sold almost 40% of my index holdings. However, I am holding onto my individual picks except Yes bank which I had sold during the year.

I had also topped up on term insurance coverage for self and spouse from Aegon Religare. Also invested a bit of money in Aegon Religare Invest Maximizer as I really liked the switch options provided by ULIPs (they are tax free unlike in the case of MF switching). Also, it is one of the cheapest ULIPs in market today. Post June, I have been putting my money into floating rate funds mostly. I am not finding anything attractive enough. And I dont want to put it into the index unless P/E drops below 18. My regular contributions towards PPF, EPF (voluntary), MF’s, etc have continued too.

Professionally, 2009 was a dull year. I was working on things I was not really enjoying doing. And I was free most of the time, and you know what happens to an idle brain. It rots!! But all that is set to change. I am changing project starting Jan 4. Am looking forward to it. (In hindsight, having been free has really helped me get into a lot of extra-curricular activities that I really enjoyed. Also, this phase, I believe has helped mould me into a much better person)

2009 was a fantastic year for extra-curricular activities. Few being cycling, traveling a ton, going on bird watching trips, driving to exotic locales, photographing fantastic landscapes, meeting different people, etc.

A few things that I did in 2009 on my hobby front

1. Purchased D90 Nikon DSLR and added 3 lenses to my kit. 50mm prime, 18-70 and the 70-300VR, all Nikkor lenses.
2. Purchased a Trek 4300 cycle and a ton of accessories.
3. Cycled in Coorg, Ooty and Agumbe in addition to places around Bangalore
4. Birding in Masinagudi, Coonoor, Ooty, Mysore, etc in addition to places around Bangalore like Kanakpura, Ragihalli, Devarabetta, Valley school, GKVK, Jakkur, Manchinebele, Komaghatta, etc.
5. Photography trips to places like Sigandoor, Keladi, Ikkeri, Belur, Halebid, Koodali, Ooty, Bokapuram, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Shimoga, Gopalaswamy betta, etc in addition to places around Bangalore
6. Developed interest in the heritage of our country. Want to explore more forts, temples and ancient buildings in S.India
7. Researched so much about Nilgiris that I can write a book myself. Discovered a few old British trails, alternative routes via forests to places like Doddabetta, Kalhatty falls, etc. Read a ton on Nilgiris. Went on birding trips to almost every corner in and around Ooty. Tried to find out the present day locations of 200 year old paintings. Spoke to tribals. What not. And, also purchased the domain www.neilgherries.com (Old British name for Nilgiris), but havent had the time to set it up.
8. Attended Kalyan Varma’s photography workshop
9. Watched a lot of plays @ Rangashankara and have been bitten by the drama bug ever since.

A few pictures from my portfolio.

A few shots taken during my cycling rides (using compact camera)

Birding spots in Nilgiris

Nilgiris! The very name evokes a fantastic feeling in my heart!

Green grass, clean air, fresh green leaves swaying in the wind, giant trees that seem to grow to the sky, amazing landscapes, a stream of water every now and then, curvy roads through the blue mountains, deeply gorged valley on one side and a treat of greenery on the other, ….. I can go on and on. That is Nilgiris. The place where I spent my childhood!

The place is also a birders paradise. Many people have asked me about the various birding spots in Nilgiris. This post is an attempt to answer that question. This will be a growing post. As of now, I have listed a few spots without enough information. I will gather further information and update the post as time goes.

Given below is a list of birding spots in Nilgiris, ones I have visited myself. And I have also listed ones I haven’t visited too. Hopefully by end of this year, that list should move to the visited list.

View My favorite locns and routes in Nilgiris in a larger map

I have mapped these places on the map above. Do click on it and have a look at the larger format.
Read the rest of this entry »

Travel – to do

Here is a list of places I would like to travel to, within India, possibly by end of 2010.

1. Ladakh
2. Manali
3. Rajasthan – Kumbalgarh, Pratapgarh, Jaipur, Udaipur, etc
4. Maharashtra – Shivaji’s forts
5. Kanha sanctuary
6. Bharatpur sanctuary
7. Rantambhore sanctuary
8. Do these treks in Nilgiris
   1. Parsons valley – Porthimund – NWEA hut – Mukurthi peak – Mukurthi dam – back
   2. Parsons valley – Porthimund – NWEA hut – Western catchment WC 3 – WC 2 – Kolaribetta – Avalanche – back
   3. T R Bazaar – Pandiar – Nilgiri peak – Mukurti peak – WC 2 – WC 1 – Bridle path – Bangitappal – Sispara pass
   4. Emerald – Avalanche – Kolaribetta – Bridal path – UB earth dam – UB hut – Korakundah
9. Nilgiris – Nadugani, Sispara, Bangitappal, Emerald, Avalanche, Red hills, Billikal, Longwood shola, Naduvattam forest reserve, Cairn hill, etc
10. Ajanta & Ellora
11. Belur, Halebid, Hampi, Aihole , Bidar, Badami, Chitradurga fort, Pattadakkal
12. Shimoga, Jog, Agumbe, Keladi, Ikkeri, Banavasi, Dandeli wildlife sanctuary, Gudavi bird sanctuary, Mandagadde, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary
    
13. Kaggaladu heronry, Kokkarebellur
    
14. Somnathpur, Srirangapatna
15. Nagarhole
16. Andaman
17. Lakshwadeep
18. Sulthan bathery, Lakkidi, Wynad
19. Melkote, Shravanabelagola
20. Temples of Tamil Nadu

Tour of Nilgiris – birding, cycling, photography & nature

Would anyone be interested in a trip to Nilgiris from Sept 18-25.

As of now, we are two people. Dev and I. We are looking for more company. The ideal head count would be between 4 and 6. If you are interested, do let us know.

We intend to carry our cycles on a car and do a lot of cycling as well. So, a cycle is a must for this ride. (If you dont have one, can be rented). Also, since cycles will be carried too, I think only 2 can ride in a car unless it has room for more.

The activities planned for this trip are:

• cycling
• bird watching
• nature and landscape photography
• Nilgiri mountain train ride
• street photography at places like Stephen church, Assembly rooms, etc

The itinerary is as follows. Have also mentioned the estimated cost, stay, etc. However, the final version could change too.

NOTE:  Would also appreciate your feedback for the plan below.

Spot the bird!

Can you spot the bird in the picture?

Habitat in nature photography

When it comes to wildlife / bird photography, people mostly attempt to get a frame filling picture of the subject. A frame filling shot,  like the one below, gives more satisfaction to some people, esp to amateur photographers who have just begun their journey.

Those with super zooms like 800mm lenses come very close (okay, it also depends on the size of the subject and distance!) to getting frame filling images of birds and animals. Others have to either make sure they are very close to the subject or do a crop of a larger image in order to get a frame-filling shot.

Going very close to birds/animals is not always possible. And buying longer tele lenses is not a feasible option for many as they run into lakhs (INR). Hence many amateurs / beginners tend to feel disappointed at not getting the kind of shots that the professionals get with their super zooms.

I have a Nikkor 70-300 VR lens which is my workhorse. And I too have been trying to get frame filling images only to be disappointed many times…. But recently I have started thinking on different lines. Why not be a habitat photographer?

Click the subjects in their natural environment. Leave enough room around the subject to tell a story about its living space and not just the subject. Open your eyes towards things beyond just the subject. Use your photo to tell a story!

Read the rest of this entry »