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Showing posts from April 1, 2014

The tourist's dream

Hi, Click this link to read my article in TOI Tourist's dream? or read the original text here: The other day my neighbor Ram dropped in for tea and as happens quite often now days the discussions meandered to the subject of tourism. As we know Vizag has the largest number of experts on the subject of tourism and I was not to be left behind. He bit into a crisp vegetable puff, brushed away the crumbs from his shirt, and asked: “If you were coming to Vizag on a short vacation, how would you imagine an ideal holiday here?” I examined the bottom of my empty tea cup thoughtfully and started narrating my ideal Vizag holiday experience. Our arrival I have heard that Vizag has improved dramatically for the tourist and with a long weekend coming up I decide to take a short holiday there with my wife. We fly into Vizag on a crisp October morning; as we look outside our aircraft window we marvel at how clean the port area looks, no more black and brown shades of coal and iron or

Visakhapatnam's (Vizag's) cannabis connection

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Hi, Click the link or read the document below. Please leave a comment when you have finished. Brickbats and bouquets are both welcome. Visakhapatnam's cannabis connection The newspapers are full of it. Several times a month there is a story of excise officials seizing Ganja while being transported. The funny thing is that there are always a couple of tribals getting caught and two or three others including the driver conveniently getting away. We city folk know a part of the Ganja story from the media and social context. It is a drug that gives its users a “high”. It is grown in cooler areas in the hills and is smuggled into the cities and sold there for hefty profits. What is Ganja? The Indian word Ganja is known as Cannabis  or Marijuana. It is also referred casually as “grass”, “weed”, “hemp” and so on. It includes three species,   sativa ,   indica and   ruderalis . Now days several hybrids are also cultivated. It is a green leafy plant which grows to a height o