Quote of the day!

"You're either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or about to go into a crisis. But, it all works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out yet, then it's not the end."

Got this from here :)

Bike Trip: Pune to Kashid via Tamhani - Phansad

On a boring Sunday morning when the time was crawling its way towards 10 am, Avani and I decided to do something about it. I had already applied a leave for Monday (with no particular plan in mind).

We thought Harihareshwar can be a good option, I called Hrishi to check if he (along with his better-half) is available, he was not, but he gave me the idea to take this route to Kashid beach.

If you are one of those who believe ‘journey is half the fun’ then this one is for you!

There are still few things google is unaware of, this is one of those! Google maps suggests route Pune – Khopoli – Pen – Alibag – Kashid. But the route we hit the road for, goes via awesome tamhani ghat and phansad wildlife sanctuary.

We crossed chandni chowk and paud gaon in quick time to reach mulshi area. It's always a pleasure to drive alongside the mulshi backwater.

Tamhani ghat is awesome during the monsoon but it isn’t bad either during February, It was all green and yellow.

Crossed Kolad and reached Roha, had food in Roha and left for Phansad. The road to Phansad via Roha is a bit confusing. I always rely on local intelligence but this time they misguided me by saying one can’t go to Kashid from Roha via Phansad. Ignoring it, we continued our journey to Phansad but this made me overcautious.

Problem with reaching Kashid beach is, it is less known (really!) so none of the direction boards on this route will you guide for Kashid until you are close to Kashid.

However, reaching Phansad, a left turn from the highway and we were in jungle!

So we crossed Phansad and Supegoan and entered Nandgoan, This was the first sight of sea for us. Some say Nandgoan beach is also a good time to spend, as there is no crowd there; it is as good as a private beach.

We reached Kashid around 4:45 pm and directly went to beach, atmosphere was nice. This was what I was driving for around last 5 hours!

We spent some time around the beach while Avani had her best tea till the date from one of the thelas near the beach. Then we started our search for accommodation, we checked-in in Nisarga Resort. Owner said the rate was Rs 4000 per day but agreed on Rs 1800 finally. Still, Avani felt I paid more for the place and I agree with her; I am not even a decent bargainer. Good thing about the resort was it was clean and that was enough.

We were back on the beach again!

Sea really makes you feel small…

It was getting better and better as the sun was going down.

With the sun getting weaker, the crowd also got thinner as it was a Sunday evening and most of the people have to go back to work next day.

We managed few good clicks together...

I woke up early in the morning to meet the sea again. I was almost alone one the beach. It feels as better in the morning as it feels in the evening on a beach.

I could not get any good clicks in the morning but I did get an unusual and unexpected friend there. I played around with my friend until I got exhausted!

Some facts about Kashid:
1. They don’t sell sprit there.
2. You can’t do a business there, it is only for locals.
3. Stall near the beaches can’t keep servants at work so whole families are at work there. This also means one can only own one stall there.

We left for Pune around 11 am and choose to take the same route. On the way back, came across this tree with beautiful flowers on it. We could not get time to get in to the Phansad wildlife sanctuary, we left it for our next trip.

For the ones who are interested in taking up this route to Kashid, following is the route to follow.

Warje – chandni chowk – Paud – Mulshi – Tamhani – Kolad – Roha – Chanera - Phansad – Supegaon – Nandgaon – Kashid.

Caution: Not for the people who believe straight and good roads always makes a better trip :)

Mystery of Seventh Murder in 7 Khoon Maaf

Watched 7 khoon maaf last night. The movie is one time watch, certainly not from the same class of  Maqbools and Omkaras of Vishal Bharadwaj however, it is not as bad as rediff review suggests.

When one watches the movie one has to keep guessing who was the the 7th victim of Priyanka Chopra.
Even in the recap song only the six kills were shown.

A lot of people think it was the maid Usha Uthup who was the 7th victim, but I think the way she died was an accident and thus does not qualify as a 'khoon'.
I believe the 7th husband was the father of the church where Priyanka became a nun.
She was seen with this father in a bar in same attire she was shown on beach with Vivaan Shah towers the end of the movie, where she says 7th is already dead. The father proposed her for the marriage in the bar.

Even if this murder was not displayed in the movie I believe she killed the father.

She did not kill herself for sure, I watched movies twice in parts and Priyanka's avatar in the first scene where it seems she has committed suicide, and the when she kills Naseeruddin Shah  is same. Even the way blood is spread around is same.


I need to watch the movie again to confirm the above, but I think this should be the case.

There is one more version to this mystery, some believe the 7th husband is Jesus Christ. She surrenders to Christ and accepts him as husband. Christ, who is dead already, who was killed by humankind in a way and  who paid for all the sins of humans with his life, hence the name '7 khoon maaf'.

How to convert password protected pdf to word document

Recently, I wanted to edit a pdf that was password protected. For this I wanted to convert the pdf to word.
I tried to use the online pdf to word converters, most of them does not support conversion of password protected pdfs. Only one of them supports conversion of secured pdfs, that is freepdfconvert.
However when I used this feature it denied conversion because the pdf was password protected, strange! 
Disheartened by this I thought there is no way to change this protected pdf.


A day later, I suddenly found the solution for this! and how! 
When I was converting one of my doc files to pdf using my good old tool PrimoPDF, I realized, I can use the same to convert a password protected pdf to non password protected pdf and then use one of the many online tools to convert the unprotected pdf to doc. That's It!

PrimoPDF is a very useful free tool, once installed it adds an options in your printers list just like Mocrosoft OneNote. Using this, one can print (convert) any document to pdf.


So, how to edit a secure pdf?
1. Install PrimoPDF
2. Open the pdf using pdf reader of you choice. My choice is pdf-xchange-viewer.
3. Enter the password. If you don't know the password use some brute-force software to get it, most of these are not free and may not work for complex passwords. Also beware of viruses if you are downloading one.
4. Go to print menu and choose PrimoPDF and tap on print button.
5. Enter the desired address to save the pdf
6. Use one of the online services to convert and download the pdf to doc. I prefer pdfonline as it does not ask for your email address
7. Alter the downloaded  document as per your need
8. User PrimoPDF again to convert the doc in pdf.


Hope this helps :)

Sangamwadi - Shadal Baba Dargah road is now operational (Sangamwadi Bypass)

Just few days ago I checked the status of this road on google maps and to my surprise it was nearing completion.
I was happy for both google maps updates and the construction status of the road  :)

Today morning I used the much awaited Sangamwadi - Shadal Baba Dargah road for the first time.
Using this road one can skip Sangamwadi goan and Bombay Sappers to reach Yerwada and Airport.

This road was under construction since a long because of the army concerns (must be related to security).


Although the road is dusty now, it was pleasure riding over it as it saves me from bumpy ride from Sangamwadi to Bombay Sappers. However once this road ends you are expected to face more traffic.

The line in red is the new road. About the quality of the road, it is a tar road and not cement one but it is good enough to carry 3 SUVs both sides at a time.

I will come up with photos of this fresh road soon :)