Website Recommendation: This Online Tool on GitHub Detects File and Container Type

If you have a file on your phone or your computer that you are unable to open and want to know what format it is, then check this web page on GitHub. eakondratiev.github.io/file.htm is an online application that will inspect a file signature and provide details as file description, its size and MIME type. According to the details on this page, more than 100 file types are supported. No software installation needed. I tried an EXE file and a DAT, which detected as a DOS executable and a QuickTime MOV container, respectively. Simple and informative.

If you check the main page, eakondratiev.github.io, you will find more tools. Some are for technical folk like IPv4 Ranges, which calculates the network mask and CIDR for subnets of a particular IPv4 range; Mouse Events Tracker detects mouse left-button misclicks and Floating-point Number Representation displays FP numbers in Binary formats for computer programs. There are simple ones too like this file type detection tool, decimal to Roman numeral convertor, and a legacy Windows Contact Card (CRD) reader. The speed conversion tools is most interesting: Enter a value (in m/s or kmph) and it will convert that into more relatable comparisons. For instance, if I enter 100 m/s, it shows me how much time I would take to go from Chicago to LA, London to New York, and more. For those who want something more relatable -- try the Facts, click on the links to find out how fast the Voyager 1 moves, speeds at which solar winds blow, etc.

Goa: Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

 

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Alternatives to the Banned Chinese Apps

Alternatives to the Banned Chinese Apps

The Indian government has banned 59 apps developed by Chinese companies. Some of these apps are extremely popular in the country and would have you believe that there aren’t good enough alternatives on the app stores. Well, you’ll be surprised to be know that there are many options for you choose from. And some of them have been made in India.

S.No.	Chinese App	Description	Alternative(s)	Country	Description
1	SHAREit, Xender	Cross-platform file transfer tool	Feem v4	Cameroon	This cross-platform app lets you transfer files to phones in its vicinity without using internet bandwidth. Also includes a chat interface.
2	TikTok, Kwai, VMate, Likee	Short video sharing social media platform	Roposo Chingari Mitron Bolo Indya	India	All three allow users to create short videos and share to popular social media platforms.
3	Helo	Social media platform for discovering trending videos, jokes, messages	ShareChat	India	Available in 15 regional languages, this Indian social media service includes chatrooms, daily dose of news, entertainment and more.
4	CleanMaster	An optimisation utility that clears system cache and frees up space	Files by Google	USA	Optimiser apps are not beneficial for the phone and usually push ads. Instead, use Files Google to free up space.
5	Hago: Play with new friends	Uses short games to bring online players together and interact	Hello Play Plato: Games and Group Chats	India USA	A social app that lets you play games online with your group of friends and chat in real time.
6	Parallel Space	An cloning tool that lets you sign into multiple accounts with the same app at the same time	Do Multiple Accounts	USA	This lets you login to more than two accounts of your messenger, social media network, game profile on the same phone.
7	WeChat	Instant messenger	WhatsApp Signal Messenger Telegram	USA USA UK	These are widely popular messaging apps already. All three offer end-to-end encryption of messages. Currently, Telegram is reportedly working to include a video-calling feature.
8	UC News, Newsdog	Delivers daily news and trending stories	Khabri	India	Delivers news and podcasts in Hindi, updates on government jobs and daily motivational quotes. A studio version lets you start your audio channel.
9	CamScanner	Makes digital copies of physical documents and photographs	Microsoft Office Lens Adobe Scan	USA USA	These are excellent alternatives for scanning receipts, assignments and documents into the PDF file format.
10	Vault	Privacy tool that hides sensitive data from prying eyes	Hide It Pro	India	You can hide your photos, videos, sensitive files and messages with this tool. It supports data encryption and can be unlocked with the phone’s fingerprint sensor.
11	Sweet Selfie, YouCam, Meitu	Selfie apps with myriad colour filters and AR effects	B612	South Korea	Contrary to popular opinion, this selfie app is developed by a company with South Korean roots.
12	Du Screen Recorder	Records screens and takes screenshots	InShot Screen Recorder	USA	Captures videos of on-screen action on the phone, lets you edit and export at Full HD resolution.
13	Bigo Live	Stream videos online in real time	YouNow	USA	A live streaming app that also lets you interact with your audience in real time.
14	Baidu Translate	Translation tool	Google Translate Microsoft Translator	USA USA	These are two of the best real-time multilingual translators on the app stores right now.
15	Baidu Maps	Location and navigation service	MapmyIndia Google Maps Here WeGo	India USA USA	We don’t know how many would want to use Baidu Maps in India when these popular apps for location mapping and navigation have always been available.
16	Mobile Legends	Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game	Brawl Stars Vainglory	Finland USA	These MOBA games promise non-stop action and challenging gameplay.

Alexandrine Parrots

http://marcodsouza.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcodsouza

Test your Typing Speed

Here's a neat website to improve your typing speed...

Visit the Typing Test and try!

Help ID this mystery cocoon

My father in law just sent in these pictures of a chrysalis/cocoon, which is just amazing looking. But I have no idea what caterpillar this is.

I have never come across or read about a butterfly/moth caterpillar that builds a cocoon within a weave mesh. The resulting cocoon looks like it floating in the middle. Also, if you notice, the caterpillar has shed its skin before entering the cocoon.

I do hope someone can ID this. it's just amazing to look at and it'd be brilliant to put a name to it.

Fruit-loving visitors

An Indian Almond tree has started flourishing outside my kitchen window, leading to an influx of visitors I was never privy to earlier. Finally, I can also say – like some ornithologist authors – that I too have a balcony from which one can get to watch some bird antics.

Well, anyway, this Indian Almond tree has not only drawn the tailor bird, parakeets and mynahs for its shade, it's fruit has also lured a fruit bat. I was told he/she had started visiting every evening and I was lucky enough to get a full show even before the evening light had faded. This fella was larger than I had imagined and happily tucked into four almonds! Brought back memories of the days we used run around these "badaam" tree chucking stones, so we could eat them with some salt.

Bird-watching at the Gateway of India

These were taken ages ago when I had visited Gateway of India on two occasions in the morning to try out some cameras. Both cameras, one a micro four thirds and the other a super zoom, were unable to match up to the fast-flying Gull-Billed Terns.

But after a lot of tracking and whirling around, swivelling about on my heels, I managed to get some shots. These had to be filtered out and cropped because the terns were actually really small in the pictures and there was too much sun for liking. None of these shots are like those we are used to see on bird blogs because the gear I used is not equipped to handle a subject like a fly-by sea bird. To top that, it was hot and each time I moved towards the lot that were flocking near a feeder, they would disperse as though they sensed a stalker. That really tried my patience.

Without much ado, here is my sorry attempt at birding in my city. (Strangely, before I started seriously amateur birding, I never ever bothered to see what kind of birds lurked around the shores of South Mumbai. That in itself was an eye opener.)

If you notice, somewhere in these picture are a couple seagulls hanging around. Hey, it's better I tell you now so you don't mistake a seagull for tern, yeah?

Birds and a Bug - Siliguri 2009

I took these years ago in Siliguri, West Bengal. Didn't go birding or anything. Some shoot from the hip. Me, I just shoot from the balcony. :)

  The Asian Pied Starling or Pied Myna

  

 

The Jungle Babbler

 

A garden bug, whose identity I do not know... do you?

I was able to identify the two birds thanks to the folks on BirdForum.netBird Forum. Really neat site, only thing is the gallery is viewable after registering. Which is not a biggie is a bird lover.

Comedy Central: A valid point

My five year old exits the elevator in an up-market mall. Something catches his eye and dashes towards it.
Mom: You can't go in there!

Boy: Why? It's all red in colour. I like it. I want to go in.

Mom: No. This is Comedy Central. It's very people tell jokes and make visitors laugh.

Boy: I want to go in.

Mom: But it is only for big people...

Boy: Why? Only big people laugh?

Mom rolls eyes. Girls standing outside the Comedy Central entrance start giggling.

Like kites? Then look at this moon moth

Indonesian Moon Moth?

This is one crazy-looking moon moth. My father-in-law (FiL) came across this guy in the school he is headmaster at. This was probably 3 years ago and at that time, all he had on him was his Nokia phone, so the captures are not crystal clear.

Even then, this moth is striking in appearance, with its kite-like wing span and long, tapering tail. The tail-end looks like a twisted tassel, something you would come across in flower petals.

The antennae is not very clear but they are long and brush-like, typical of any moth. My FiL excitedly mailed the pictures to me and I in turn posted them on BirdForum.net. Unfortunately, no one was able to identify him. The people on the forum are pros and veteran nature photographers. After a lot of googling, I came across similar moths – moon moths. Not much is written about moon moths on Wikipedia, except for their classification in the insect kingdom.

Like a hang glider...

At the time of writing this post, I tried searching again and I came across a picture of the Indonesian Moon Moth. This looks strikingly similar to the one my FiL found in his school office. I do remember visiting this website earlier but never did come across the Actias Maenas, which is the scientific name of the Indonesian Moon Moth. Well, I am glad I did now. The identification mystery is finally solved, I think. But I don't understand how this fellow ended up in Siliguri, West Bengal, India. There must be sub-species or a migratory route it follows. I mean, the Indonesian Moon Moth's habitat is listed as tropical rainforest. This one was sighted on the outskirts of Siliguri, which is a town at the base of the Himalayas and serves as a trade corridor the north-east. Now I am not sure whether the forest area is tropical or not, I am no expert on that but it does not add up. Lost or not, this guy made for some eventful e-mailing, Googling and forum posting.

Parrots: House hunting?

Paying a friendly breakfast visit?

This morning I happened to take a train from Grant Road Station, Mumbai and walk down to the Post Office for some work. On my way back, I came across these two parrots looking into a hollow on this (Gulmohar?) tree. All I had with me was my phone cam, so the pictures are really not that good. As soon as I took pictures and walked on, one of the parrots shrieked loudly, flew off and to my amazement a third one popped its head out of the hollow! I'd like to think this was a breakfast meet up.

...or scoping for a new home?

In reality, these two must have been scouting for a new home and got startled by the resident. Anyway, when I checked these pictures out, I realised that these are not rose-ringed parakeets. I assumed they were because you usually see the Alexandrine parrots in the suburbs. It was my oversight that I didn't bother to notice what type they were before impatiently (and hurriedly) taking a picture.


So, it turns out, if one looks very carefully at the poor quality captures, one will notice reddish patches (smudges, in this case) on their shoulders. That means they are Alexandrine parakeets – an 'introduced' species of parrots in Mumbai. Yep, I had read somewhere that unlike the rose-ringed ones, these guys are not native.

Asian Palm Swift: Mumbai

While taking a tea break with colleagues, I spotted some swifts swirling madly about at a distance. Now, we had with us a megazoom camera, a Canon Powershot SX40 HS and I knew that even with this cam it would be difficult to capture such an active bird. Initially, I took this to be the house swift or the Little Swift. But when we looked at the photograph I managed to take – which I must say was a lucky one because after this shot, I was unable to grab another still of the birds, they were just too fast – I realised that the swift was probably not a House Swift/Little Swift. I have only seen the House Swift, first hand, in the suburbs and South Mumbai.

Asian Palm Swift

This is a  crop of the original image, where the chap looked like a speck in a blue expanse. Laughable, I know. All you can see is the profile – which is good enough for a super amateur like me. Anyway, after some Wiki-ing, I think this might be the Asian Palm Swift. Let me know if any of you think otherwise.

Shillong Chamber Choir: The Indian Train Song

About a week or two ago, I got a chance to watch and listen to the Shillong Chamber Choir, live. A pre-Christmas celebration was being held on Chowpatty Beach and we were invited. Naturally, we attended it. We have always liked the Shillong Chamber Choir and I’m a big sucker for anything North-East. This is a recording of the Indian Train song. I started recording it the moment Neil Nongkynrih, the music director, said the train song is dedicated to Mamata Banerjee (the CM of West Bengal). Just like the Incredible India! ad, this song is supposed to convey what all one experiences while on a train journey. Except for the smells one encounters through train travel, I think almost all the common sounds have found a place in his composition.

Before you go on to watch the video (apologies for the poor audio), here are some of the words you will hear being repeated through the song, along with the literal translation. One thing to keep in mind is this is a group from the North-East, Hindi is not their mother tongue and English is mostly their second language. Not only do their sing Hindi songs like pros, they have even sung some Punjabi lines in this train song...

Chai, chai: Tea, tea
Samosa: A stuffed, deep fried snack
Channa, channa: Spiced up roasted/boiled chickpeas
Mishti doi: Sweet curd (a lip-smacking dessert from Orissa, West Bengal and Bangladesh. For the record, yogurt is nothing like mishti doi)

English words:
Coffee, coffee
Cold drink
Bread omelette
Veg cutlet

I hope I haven’t missed anything. Feel free to leave a comment if you find that I have left some out. The basic gist of the Punjabi verses is, “There are some girls in the train with us. They have lipstick and powder on their face... but I can see a beard under all of that makeup!” (LOL!)

What train journey is complete without a eunuch bumming you for some change? There is the manly, nasal chant, “Aye! Chuttaa de re!” (Give some change) and “Sirf dus rupiya!” (only ten rupees). And what follows is an argument between the eunuchs and passengers who are not willing to part with small change also.
My video recording is not very clear but it ends with passengers coughing and probably farting because the girls start holding their nose and waving their hands in the air disapprovingly.

I’ll stop my commentary now – enjoy the song and their superb singing because they did what the rest of the choirs couldn’t do on this windy day on the beach – sing beautifully and clearly. And I have to add that the men in this team are awesome singers. I was impressed with the shortest guy of them all (extreme right) – sings bass like a boss!



I just found a better video of this song, albeit in a different setting (a noisy football stadium), has been recorded and uploaded by WildFilmsIndia on YouTube.

Insects that have visited my house

Not everybody has the luck, time or the means to go birding or traipsing down nature trails to get their dose of excitement. Some of us city slickers have to make do with what they got. So if that means, sighting a common bird out of the kitchen window and act as though he spotted the Bird of Paradise, so be it. The same goes with coming across interesting insects too. I mean, I have seen some really wild spiders (read as shapely, colourful, etc.) even while on my way to work but it is virtually impossible to shoot the little buggers because of their size, the situation and the lack of said equipment. This here is a list of insects I have managed to photograph at my convenience and in the confines of my home. This does not include the Citrus Butterflies I nurtured many years ago on my orange plant. They hold a separate, special space in my insect world. For now, take a look at the guests I entertained in my house...

Praying Mantis giving me 'the look'

The Praying Mantis: One insect that has always fascinated me since my Tinkle-reading days. Found this guy on the floor, eerily still. His dry-leaf colour went well with the tiles, which is why he was hardly conspicuous and made it difficult for my camera to focus on. Anyway, the moment I prodded him, he jerked to life, making me momentarily jump out of my skin (Wodehouse-style).
Click on the image to see the rest of this fella on Flickr.
Now I know that there are many type of praying mantis out there. This time, Wikipedia was only a wee bit helpful on identifying this critter. The Bantiella Fusca comes close to resembling this particular Praying Mantis.

"I go well with your curtains"

The Curtain Insect: I am unable to identify this insect. He/She cleverly hung out near the flowers on my curtain. Notice the orange spots on its body? And how about those spots that resemble a pair of angry-looking eyes? Plus those loooong antennae...good thing this guy doesn't have to travel by bus or train. Imagine the trouble he would cause with those ticklers.
Once again, click on the image to see more on Flickr. And if you happen to know something about this six-legged, orange-spotted, goggle-eyed insect, please leave a comment.


Brown Flower Beetle: Came across this beetle in the balcony, struggling to free himself of the dust and cobwebs around his legs and on his outer shell. I have never seen such a shiny beetle. I have always shiny beetles to tropical rainforests kind of places, you know. So this guy was a really great find. My son and I crowded around him with a glass and make-up brush, taking photographs at the same time.
Anand on Flickr, helped me identify this beetle because he had shot a superb macro of the exact same one with the Canon G12.

This guy made a loud whirring-buzzing
noise when aggitated

This one was the complete opposite

Then there were these two - one really large and positively the most freaky looking and sounding, while the other was tiny and so docile.

Blogger for Android

Just found this app. Hopefully more ramblings to follow. Wonder it integrates within 'Share' also...
<hr>
Share via, works. Can post to blogger directly from there. Now if I could check box list and post to multiple destinations in one fell swoop...
(Added html up there, let's see if it takes that as well)

---

Right...so the HTML tag did not work, the image didn't resize automatically to fit the column width and it didn't get published the right way up either. I can go directly to the camera mode and shoot a picture to attach to the post but there are no options to add/shorten a link, edit html (simply because there are no formatting tools available — it is a mobile version after all — and I may want to add some emphasis tags, etc. from time to time). Maybe I am asking for too much too soon.

Catscapade

Long stare
Originally uploaded by Flip Fantasia

I visited the WSD Shelter today with the intention to take some photographs of the volunteers with the US School kids. But when I reached one batch of children was already on its way and the next one seemed like they would come after lunch.

The second batch was going to paint a part of the wall in the shelter. Saw one of the US School representatives using a projector to complete the outlines of the artwork that the first batch could not complete. I suppose the next lot of kids must have filled them in with colour.

Once inside the kennel, it was little under-lit for my basic camera and I did not want to use the flash and irritate the dogs. There were quite a few volunteers (veterinary students) inside and Abodh was a little busy with the next batch of visitors from the US School. Didn't want to ask disturb and ask too many questions. Maybe next time, I will plan a little better and get some photographs of the dogs. One thing I must stop and say, I am amazed how clean the guys there keep the place. Given the number of dogs there and how many times the caretakers need to clean up after the dogs and keep the O.T. squeaky clean, it's a great achievement.

Meanwhile, feast your eyes on these lovely cats that were sprawled out outside the AIWA shelter, right behind the WSD kennel. I seemed to have mistimed my entry here as well. Since it was noon and probably around lunch time, so most of the cats had disappeared inside where it was cooler. Thankfully, there were still a handful outside that enjoyed all the fuss.

Kitty Klawz

Kitty Klawz
Originally uploaded by Flip Fantasia

A WSD volunteer picked up this kitten and left her with us for the afternoon. The little one was quite street smart, don't know why she needed to be picked up in the first place. A little skinny but seemed in perfect health, not scared, razor sharp reflexes, quite playful and comfortable around people too.

She has gone now. All I have is some photographs (right now, uploaded just three), so click to say, Hello Kitty. ;o)

Guwahati to Siliguri by Road

That's Assam to West Bengal. An overnight journey of 15 hours by road. This took place in the first week of January this year, so it was cold. I am not sure about the temperatures but it must have been around 15 deg C. and lower as the night wore on.

And no, this was not a planned trip. It was a result of fog making it difficult for the pilot to land the Kingfisher aircraft in Bagdogra airport (West Bengal). Visibility was poor so the Delhi-Bagdogra-Guwahati flight circled for a while and then finally landed in Guwahati...leaving some of us in a fix. I needed to be in Siliguri, West Bengal. Not Guwahati airport, Assam.

Obviously, the detour didn't go down too well with most of the passengers. Me included. I had a week's leave and I was not willing to lose one more day in travel. There was going to be no flight that day and nothing the following morning either. I had no idea about the trains that plied from Guwahati station or their schedule. There was much grumbling amongst some passengers -- most of whom, I assumed, were tourists heading to Darjeeling or Sikkim. Bagdogra or Siliguri are the places you go through, if you intend to visit D and S.

Kingfisher ground staff was helpful and assured us that they would arrange something. A bus or private taxis were suggested. Some were not convinced because an overnight journey on Assam's roads and national highways are not generally considered safe. Simply because of the unrest in the state because of the ULFA. But there hadn't been any critical events at that time, so I didn't really think it to be too unsafe. I confirmed that with family over the phone and agreed to hitch a ride with co-passengers in a bus. Later, we learned there was no bus. There were only private taxis. The ones that wait all day outside the airport -- like a bunch of vultures.

Some passengers opted for the return option -- return to Delhi airport. Some agreed for a flight refund and probably stayed the night in Guwahati. I had no choice, no time to waste in Assam or the patience. Private taxi, it had to be. I sat through an overnight journey from Calcutta to Siliguri in a bag-of-bolts bus and lived to tell it. This should be no different. At that time, I had failed to include certain parameters that could have made my journey miserable.

Mode of transport settled, we gave our names to the Kingfisher ground staff. They made a list. Took us outside and started negotiating with the taxi drivers. I soon realised this journey was a first for the taxi drivers themselves. I mean, go gets off at Guwahati airport and asks to be driven down to another state! Anyway, what ensued was a long wait for people to get organised into groups of four. The trouble started when everyone soon realised that the cars were Altos, Wagon Rs and such. 4-seaters. Larger vehicles are not allowed at the airport. There was just one Tata Safari, which filled up real quick. Obviously. But they also had to wait the longest. All the drivers had decided to set out together, in a line. There was safety in numbers and it helped those who didn't know the road from Guwahati to Siliguri.

By this time, I had made friends with four people who were going in my direction - Siliguri. One of the women was Nepalese, I think. I could not understand where she needed to get dropped off but I figured she would be better off with another group that room for one more person in their car. Not only did we have to make sure there were only 4 per car (excluding the driver), we needed to make sure everybody's luggage was fitting in securely.

I made sure the lady found a group and returned to mine -- an elderly Swedish lady (who I found out later was married to a man who had his roots in Siliguri), her daughter and a Sikkimese guy who works in Mumbai. All of us spoke mainly in English. Understood each other well. The Swedish lady, Mrs. B, took comfort in the fact that I could help with Hindi translations. My Sikkimese friend, J., knew Nepalese and Bengali too. So he could converse in Bengali with the driver. I believe Bengali and Assamese dialects are similar. Not the same. Just somewhat similar.

Anyway, all of us wanted to go to Siliguri and not Bagdogra, didn't have an agenda of going off to trek in Darjeeling or visit Gangtok, Sikkim. All four of us had family in Siliguri. Unfortunately, the entire troup was getting held up because of a few disgruntled passengers and also because the drivers were waiting for their money. Kingfisher paid each taxi. The ground staff made sure everyone got a ride. They had a list with all the names, ensured that everyone was onboard. Signed off and only then did they get off their shift.

There were passengers who thought they were going to get SUVs and be driven down in style. I never heard anybody promising such cars and I didn't really give a damn. When you live in India, you get to see the smallest car overloaded with God knows what all. Anyway, I could understand some of the concern. Unknown places, hilly region, you feel safer in a larger, stronger vehicle. I mean, even Mrs. B was not entirely convinced that her luggage would be safe in the Maruti Alto. But she soon realised that she could not stay the night in Guwahati with her daughter. No way to know how good or safe the hotels were.

At around 5pm, all the cars pushed off. I think there were about ten cars in all. Loaded with diverted passengers and luggage. January, so the sun had already set and it felt like it was 8pm! I love the cold weather so I never really felt that chilly. As the journey wore on, I had to wear my jacket. It was nice and cold! There was lots of fog too. There were stretches where all the cars had to have their hazard warning lights on, just so that every driver could know if there was a vehicle in front of him.

I could not sleep at all. Strangely, I was excited to be on a journey like this. I have always had a lousy experience while travelling to Siliguri. Flight delays, offloaded, even spent a night at the Calcutta airport, ended up travelling on days when there was curfew in Siliguri. But never had I been a journey like this. Beats waiting at an airport terminal. Plus, all of us were getting to know each other better, asking questions, telling each other where they were from, what they did, etc. Also, I wanted to keep an eye on the driver and the road. The last thing I wanted was the driver falling asleep at the wheel. This was no picnic outing.

Turned out that the drivers were really good. All very young but really close knit. They stuck together, took turns in leading the retinue, continuously on the phone to reach anybody who seemed to have broken away from the party. And most of all, none of them drank alcohol -- inspite of the cold. And nobody ate dinner at the small roadside inn we stopped off at. Our driver was worried he would feel sleepy if he ate. So they all stayed hungry....right till about 1.30 am. I think that's when we had covered a fair bit of ground and were mostly half way there...half of almost 445 Km!! They were entitled to the meal. A quick stop at a local booze cum dinner inn, some cigarettes were shared and we were on our way again. No alcohol again. Water was served in empty-rinsed-out beer bottles. :)

I realised I have not shared the route yet. I don't think this is the exact route we took but we probably took most of the highways. Unfortunately, Vodafone's roaming GPRS refused to work and the Assisted GPS on my Samsung Galaxy 3 didn't work at all. I couldn't chart our route, neither could I help with telling the driver where we were. So much for technology. And I had to make sure I had enough batter left till morning -- so that I could announce folks in Siliguri that I had arrived. For someone who relies so much on Maps, Google and Wikipedia, I was pretty much on stranded on an un-connected island.

First thing I did when I got back to Bombay, was to find out how far it is from Guwahati to Siliguri and try to identify any areas I had gone through. Unfortunately, I couldn't recognise anything. Even the driver wasn't sure of that names that night. So I am granted that bit of ignorance. It was fun, nonetheless. We reached at around 8am in the morning, after umpteen number of stops, meetings to decide which road to take, a tyre puncture and other random stops. Here is the map.


View Directions to Hotel Air View, Siliguri, West Bengal in a larger map

So the trip ended well and I felt like I had been through a super adventure, feeling like one of those Wodehouse characters who is described to be an 'explorer', one who knows many languages, has broken bread with an undocumented tribe, and shot a charging bull elephant right 'tween the eyes. No, I would never shoot an animal. Just saying. I felt that way. City boy does an overnight journey, cuts through wilderness in a little car, with three others he has just met. Broke bread with fellow drivers. That does not happen every day. And the travel companions turned out to be very friendly and interesting. This made the journey all the more enjoyable. If I were saddled with a scared tourist, a cribby couple who hailed from my part of the country or a snoot, I would have been done for. I would rather be in a car 15 hours with fat, jolly people, than with people who can't deal with the cold, a different place or worse -- be a little positive and make the whole experience that much more tolerable.