Picturesque Pichavaram

Pichavaram is the site of one of India's largest mangrove forests. Situated approximately 280 kms south of Chennai, Pichavaram is an ideal weekend getaway.

The nearest town is Chidambaram - located at approximately 2 hours drive south of Pondicherry. There are two routes to Chidambaram from Chennai - one down the east-coast road to Pondicherry and there-from south via Cuddalore, along the coast and the second along the Chengalpat - Tindivanam high-way. We decided to try the latter as it is usually less crowded on weekends and is a much wider road. The road till Tindivanam is an awesome drive - 4/6 lane and one can cover it easily at well over 80 kmph. Post Tindivanam, however, the road is under re-laying and is in pretty bad shape. After Tindivanam, one needs to take change route to Panruti - a small road lined with villages and fields on either side. Somewhere down the route to Panruti, we lost track of the road-signs and instead landed up Neyveli - the site of the Thermal power station - a slightly circuitous route. The road from Neyveli from Chidambaram was in pretty sad shape and the car took quite a beating.

We had heard from online reports that the road to Pichavaram from Chidambaram had been badly damaged by the Tsunami - luckily for us, the road had been re-laid in most parts and was very easily traversable. The route is very beautiful, lined by water canals and green fields on either side.

Pichavaram is a small fishing hamlet with the single TTDC hotel (sort-of) - where the road terminates. There's very little left of the TTDC hotel (if there was any in the first place), but a small restaurant, a couple of rooms, a tall view-point tower and a small jetty. The restaurant serves a nice welcome breakfast; and the view-point tower has a great view of the entire estuary. Only row-boats are available and for one, two and four hour durations.

The mangrove forests seem like floating trees in the middle of estuary - so well & densely grown as to create small islands. Forming an area of ~3500 acres, the mangrove forests provide an endless area for exploration - limited only by how much you can row about. The whole area is absolutely scenic.

A few minutes into the boating trip, the hired rower asked us if we would be interested in seeing a few hidden rivulets, for a few extra bucks. Mystified, we agreed. A large number of rivulets (4440 exactly, as per the rower) criss-cross the mangrove forests. More like internal streams, these present a world by themselves - the verdant coverage blots out the sun, banyan like hangings stream-down from the trees, dead logs float along and the whole atmosphere is deathly quiet - this is just one experience worth every bit of it.

After two hours of endless photography, some rowing sessions and a glimpse of a fox amidst the greenery, we headed back. Stopping for a short while at the Chidambaram temple - to get a glimpse of the famous Chidambara-rahasiyam (Chidambaram's Secret), we headed back to Chennai via Cuddalore and Pondicherry.

For those intending to follow our trail: Take the ECR down Pondicherry & Cuddalore to Chidambaram - the road is awesome all the way and is very scenic. The one way trip should take about 4-5 hours, given the traffic. Boating at Pichavaram is open from 7.30 AM to 5.30 PM. The temple in Chidambaram is open from early in the morning till mid-afternoon, and re-opens around 4pm. There are very few decent places to stay at Chidambaram and it being a famous temple town - do your bookings before you set out - particularly during the festival season; Hotels Saradaram and Akshaya are two nice ones. Head there sometime in late December / early Jan, right before the harvest season like we did, and you'll be treated to the awesome scenery of verdant fields all over.

Quantum Finance

Quantum Finance : Positively hilarious !

Sample this:

"In reality the true elements of money can never be seen, but only traced by their effects or symbols.

You can never know both the ownership of an asset and its value. (If you know who owns it then you do not know its value. You only know its value at the time of sale, i.e. when it is between owners).

People often ask what happens when something falls into a Black Schole, and the answer depends on the relative position of the observer.

Schrodinger, as well as having a cat, (either dead or alive), also had a bank account, about which he was equally uncertain. The reason is that a Bank is nothing more than a financial probability wave, and he could only know that his money was safe when he asked for it back."

Wii will wii will rock you !

Started playing the Wii a couple of days back. The wireless remote is just awesome - it’s a dream to hold a wireless remote with force-feedback and in-built speakers! Particularly when you fight those aliens in Zelda with sword & shield or when you play tennis - the force feedback and sound add an unbelievable effect. The gaming set looks cool too - something like an iMac.

However, downsides do exist - the predominantly Japanese game-play seems slightly out of place and graphics don't quite reach the level of the xbox/ps comparables. Frequently gaming also results in slight hand-pain, as one tends to use the remote more vigorously than with the wired consoles.

The Mind of the Strategist - by Kenichi Ohmae

A classic text on strategy, as relevant today as it was when written. The most insightful parts:
- Analysis as the starting point for strategy formulation and its use in dissecting complex phenomena into its constituent parts
- Concept of the key success factors - In any industry or situation, the identification of the few key aspects that define success and the need for relentless focus on these
- How changing fixed & variable cost structures necessitate different strategies - varying from the focus on utilization to the focus on waste minimization & effective planning

While most of these aspects are common knowledge to any student of strategy/consulting, their lucid explanation and clear methodology make the book a necessary refresher

The largest LBO in history

The Blackstone Group acquires Equity Office Properties Trust, USA's largest office-building owner & manager for $36 billion: Blackstone Acquiring Trust in Richest Buyout

"Under the transaction, Equity Office will go from being a publicly held company to a private one. Blackstone will pay $20 billion and assume $16 billion in debt.

...The deal will make Blackstone, which was founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, one of the nation’s largest owners of real estate.

...Blackstone will move ahead of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, which led the H.C.A. sale....This year alone, Blackstone has bought $20 billion worth of real estate, or 7 percent of all acquisitions. It has been involved in more REIT buyouts and mergers than any other company."