Software Quality and Testing

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Decision making !
2008-04-07 08:40:00
While recently reading up an interview with executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, i was attracted to these words which on the face of it was pretty obvious all along ... "Every decision is made by the person who has the power to make it. Not the smartest person, not the prettiest or the best, but the one who has the power."It does'nt take long to realize the truth in the above statement. Ultimately the one making the final decision is the one with the power to make it. Is there anything at all that you can do to have an outcome that satisfies you; are you totally powerless; frankly, you are not entirely powerless even when you do not have the power to make decisions. You can do one significant thing and that is - Influence.How do you influence ? Well, how does anyone influence you ... think of advertisements and marketing pitches exhorting you to try and buy a range of products and services ... which brings us to a fact that all of us need to realize and accept viz. we ...
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Wayanad ... again !
2008-04-06 13:23:00
Our second team trip to Wayanad. With good memories of our past trip, we left on a bright beautiful Saturday morning in a Force Traveller which we had hired to transport us during this trip. Some members of the team had'nt visited Wayanad and so our plans were to cover two of the same places we visited last time viz. Muthanga wild life sanctuary and Edakkal caves. The other place we planned to visit was Soojipara falls. We intended to stay at the same place we stayed the last time.The journey was great which was not unexpected considering the group I was with. We stopped for break fast at Tiffany's on the Bangalore - Mysore highway. We reached Wayanad in the afternoon and decided to have lunch at Sultanbathery town. After a nice & heavy lunch, we went to visit the Muthanga sanctuary.  Our experience of Muthanga, the last time around was not too great since we did'nt really get to see much wild life. Of course, last time we did encounter some deer and foxes. W...

Life and times ...
2008-03-29 07:49:00
I realize its been ages since i last posted anything here ... i did travel a bit ... some interesting trips to Wayanad (yes, again! with the super team that i'm part of), Chennai (to attend to a good friend's wedding) and Singapore (generally on a sudden trip!) ... hopefully i can now keep adding more content here in the days ahead.For this post, i thought i'd write a few words about an interesting experience I had while coming back from Singapore. So, here goes ... Would you ever have imagined that a single stray dog can bring an entire airport to its knees, preventing all international and domestic flights from either landing or taking off ... the airport was virtually closed for couple of hours and incoming flights were diverted to another city ! Well, i'd never have thought such a thing could happen until i had the luck to be part of this event. Here're the details ...I was aboard a Singapore Airlines flight traveling from Singapore to Bangalore. The fli...
More About: Life , Times

An interesting "Chat with God"
2008-02-29 06:57:00
Its been a while (well, sadly thats how i've been starting my posts these days !) since i posted anything in this area. Recently came across a message that my colleague, Swetha, sent my way. I found this interesting and thought i'd share it here.CHAT WITH GOD!God : Hello. Did you call me?Me: Called you? No.. Who is this ?God : This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something.God : What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.God : Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.God : Well I wanted to resolve your! Fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wan...
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Types of testing ...
2008-02-16 07:50:00
This is a work-in-progress document and the purpose is to expand on the test types listed in a previous entry. Will keep updating as i find time to do this.Acceptance testingalso known as User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is generally performed by customers or user representatives.Sometimes, the product team may perform these tests too. UAT tests can be both functional as well as non-functional.  These tests are performed after Integration & System testing. UAT is supposed to be the final level of testing and verifies whether the product meets the agreed upon product acceptance criteria. A relatively small set of test cases are selected to be executed as part of the Acceptance tests. These are not meant to unearth new defects, instead they verify meeting of the product acceptance criteria. The tests that are part of UAT should have already been covered as part of the product test team's testing so that no late surprises emerge when the UAT is run by customers. Failure of a...
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Quality Forum
2008-02-03 17:26:00
Here's a little sneak peek into the wonderful world of Quality & Testing at Sun's India Engineering Center (IEC) based at Bangalore. Did you ever realize that the IEC has a group comprising ~ 200 of the finest & most talented Quality Professionals on the planet, all based at one location, collaborating, thriving, creating & sharing best practices, working on a mind boggling range of technologies and areas spanning the entire gamut of Software, Storage and Systems, employing the best of breed tools and state-of-the-art techniques?If you are wondering whether such a conglomeration could even exist ... the answer is, a resounding Yes! Not only does this group exist, it is today a very vibrant & thriving forum and is called "The Quality Forum " based at the Sun India Engineering Center, Bangalore.Now that i've mentioned about the Quality Forum, let me give a little more info on this special group. There's so much to be said about this forum, ...

Test Strategy
2008-02-03 13:11:00
I recently received a query from a friend about Test Strategy and asking to shed some light on this topic. Whilst there is no dearth of information on this subject, sometimes you can end up with too much information and my good friend was keen to have a brief summary of the topic. Well, considering that its been a while since i've posted anything in the QA & Testing section, I thought, this reply to my friend could serve as fodder for a blog entry (what was that about two birds and a stone ...). Without much ado, here's what i intend to tell my friend.The Test Strategy : Is also referred to as Test Approach and is basically a plan of action. You could also call it a road map or blueprint that seeks to provide direction to your test efforts and tries to clarify how Testing will be performed; put another way, the Test Strategy communicates how you will go about achieving your Testing goals.Some of the areas that the Test Strategy clarifies may include, the types of Test...

Unwind
2008-01-12 14:21:00
I recently chanced upon a piece of writing that had tips to Un-wind and De-stress. Would we have need to think of ways to un-wind if we did not get ourselves all wound up in the first place or have the regular need to de-stress, if we did not get so stressed out ? Generally, we do not require much external assistance and are very capable of getting wound up or stressed out, all by ourselves. Its probably in the nature of our existence, the paths we traverse, the choices we make (or not make) ... is there a way out ? Are we destined to play the role of the proverbial mice that follow the pied piper marching to his tune at his pace, along with the mechanical multitude or do we set our own pace and trace our own paths, based on our realization of our ability to choose ?I'm sure we all agree that for the most part, our lives are anything but Simple.Most of us lead, complicated lives. We even tend to subscribe to the view that we are complex beings, with complex thought processes, ...
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The Fast ... and Furious ...
2007-12-24 17:10:00
Things seem to be getting faster, swifter and more quicker ... agreed, all of those words tend to mean similar things, yet i can't help mouth these words given the way things are shaping up ! Oh well, i'm referring to the practice of singing Christmas carols. Usually around Christmas day, a bunch of youngsters (generally members of the choir) from our Church tend to troop in to each house and sing carols. Nothing out of the ordinary here, just that the carol session at my house this time around, set me thinking about the way things seem to be getting mindlessly fast ! For instance, recently, one evening when I was standing outside my house admiring the peace and quiet, out of the blue, i heard the roar of nearly a half-dozen motorcycles and soon enough a bunch of motorcycles and couple of cars screeched to a halt right in front of me. Even before the dust had settled, a bunch of teenagers stormed into the house and sang a few carols in quick succession and without pausing ...
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nothing special ...
2007-12-23 13:31:00
Its been quite a while since i've posted anything ... hold on, i'm trying to think of an excuse ... lemme see ... aha! the oft repeated phrase ... frankly i've been busy lately ... thought i'd simply post a quick update on my recent activities and so here's an update on a recent short trip to Chennai ....So, whats special about this trip ? Absolutely nothing and thats probably of interest ... i'd say its time we rejoiced in the ordinary rather than wait for something extra-ordinary to happen. Chennai is at a distance of about 360+ kilometers from Bangalore. Boarded a train (Sanghamitra Express) that goes to Patna via Chennai, from the Bangalore City Railway Station at 9AM last Thursday. The coach was'nt too full, which is a good thing. I like the idea of traveling during the day and having a window seat is a bonus ! Was wondering who my fellow passengers would be ... my wait ended shortly when an elderly husband-wife duo perched on the seat oppos...
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When split-second responses and quick reflexes are bad
2007-11-25 14:40:00
A lot has been written about on this topic and i'm trying to hopefully pique your interest just enough for you to pause and consider this if you have not given it much thought lately !We all have a lot of choice and its just that we either are not aware of the choice we have or we don't choose to exercise the choice we have, which in itself represents a choice - the choice to not choose, oftentimes made at an unconscious level. As Deepak Chopra says, "You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices."To clarify the subject of this post - its about highlighting the "choice" each of us has in each of life's circumstances; the fundamental fact remains that - between stimulus and response, there's a gap. How big is the gap ? This would depend on your levels of awareness and consciousness. You can actually change the size of t...
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Live with the end in mind
2007-11-09 17:20:00
The thought of literally keeping  the end in mind while living, and how this regular reminder of the end enables living life to the fullest is the gist of this post. We generally tend to live as though our days were endless, or even if we do have a faint realization that someday our lives must end, it tends to seem to be sometime in the distant future. This thinking holds the potential for us to not value and fully appreciate the importance of each day, of our lives. Of course, there are days that are memorable and days when we really feel alive. But, how many days of your life would match this description ? Would you be able to say that a large number, if not all of the days of your life that you presently live, are days you treasure, cherish and value ? I'm reminded of an interesting observation that i came across sometime ago on this subject. Its about a method to remind you to live with the end in mind. It involves a little math ! Answer this question - how much longer...
More About: Mind , Live

Birds, Bird-brains and worms ...
2007-11-03 16:45:00
"The early bird catches the worm" - so they say ... and what have we here - many gullible denizens of our planet, falling hook, line and sinker for it and taking it literally.No, i'm not against punctual behavior. I have the highest regard for the folks who tend to be punctual and value both their and others' time. I'm for editing the above saying and adding in an extra word to clarify as "The early bird catches the early worm". Now we can see that the early bird has caught the "early worm". Being early had different outcomes for the bird and the worm. No doubt the early bird might have rejoiced, but am not sure the early worm liked the result of its early foray. In life, it helps to take a moment to analyze your circumstances and think if at a given point of time, you are the bird or the worm ... while generally its great to be in the limelight and the center of attention, there are occasions when a little obscurity would help. Reminds m...
More About: Worms , Birds , Bird , Brains

an "Idle" mind is ... sometimes, a good thing
2007-10-28 10:43:00
The oft repeated cliché says that an idle mind is the devil's workshop and to avoid this most folks tend to engage themselves in the business of busy-ness a.k.a. being busy or engaged in a myriad pursuits that consume all or most of the time at their disposal. We live in times that tend to look up to folks that appear the most busy and have hectic schedules and calendars choc-a-block with appointments while frowning upon those who seem to lead ... relatively quieter lives.Why would an entire ... or at-least a major part of our societies today, be engaged in the pursuit of busyness ? Could it be - the fear of obsolescence what with the constant changes everywhere, the need to keep-in-step with the times, "avoidance syndrome" (the inability to face or confront ... personal problems, fears / inadequacies ...), the need to constantly prove oneself / one's value, keeping up with the Joneses (this could be when almost everyone else at your level has a tightly packed s...
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Its been a while ...
2007-10-28 05:42:00
Just a short note to say that i've been caught up in the busy-ness of everyday business and have found little time to get down to blogging.Currently making sure that posts come out at-least on weekends - hopefully can get back to writing more often, whenever the urge strikes ! Until the next post ... here's an interesting quote about working "half-a-day" by Kammons Wilson, which i think could do wonders for productivity !  ... " I like to work half a day. I don't care if it is the first 12 hours or the second 12 hours" ...

Potential is useless
2007-10-20 18:20:00
at-least thats a view I tend to subscribe to ! Ok, i need to add a little bit more to that statement, Potential is useless ... if its not harnessed and remains hidden. Not convinced ? Take a look at a large piece of rock which is trampled upon by countless feet ... would the same people mindlessly trample upon a piece of exquisite sculpture or art ? If no, then why is the rock being trampled upon ? Does'nt the rock have the potential to be that piece of art ? What use is this potential if its not harnessed and is hidden ? Look at the folks around you (lets keep it simple and look at the workplace!) and see how many folks have potential ... i'd say everyone has potential ... the potential to make a difference, to be the best they can and are meant to be, but is everyone fully engaged in bringing out their hidden potential ... do some folks seem alive and working with purpose whereas some others seem to be there to “make a livingâ€� and are merely engaged in the motions â€...
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Are cutting edge Technical innovations really important ?
2007-10-13 13:49:00
This is a good example of the kind of question to ask in a Technology company that has the potential for some fire-works (and probably getting fired)!Anyways, there's always been the quest to find out if technological superiority truly translated into increased market share & revenues or would it just remain useful as part of a marketing spiel which may or may not cut much ice with the customer ... do products featuring cutting edge innovations truly lend significant competitive advantage ? Do buyers with decision making authority truly care as much about technological innovation as the folks working on creating these innovations ? Do market leaders and best sellers really hold technical superiority over their trailing competitors ? Does having the latest and greatest technological bells and whistles ensure a product's success in the market place over their comparitively less-technically-endowed competition ? Do investments in bleeding edge technological innovations tr...
More About: Technical , Cutting Edge , Innovations , Edge , Cutting

Test Architect
2007-10-08 08:38:00
Testing as a career offers multiple paths for testers to traverse in pursuit of their career goals and aspirations. Testers generally take the regular path from being a junior engineer to fairly senior quality engineering positions such as test leadership roles before coming across a fork in the road, one path leading to Management and the other pointing to a Technical growth path. While the Management career path is fairly well known and Managers seem like a dime-a-dozen!, the Technical path tends to seem a little unclear especially if you have few Senior Technical Leaders in the Testing space to look upto in your organization. The purpose of this post is to hopefully shed some light on the Test Architect role which is part of the Technical growth path in Testing.Without much ado, lets dive right in.The Test Architect (TA) role is a senior position in the organization and is treated on par with equivalent Management positions in terms of rewards, recognition, visibility and influen...
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Do re-invent the wheel ... when appropriate !
2007-10-06 11:48:00
The oft repeated cliche exhorts us to not re-invent the wheel. While there exist valid reasons to not re-invent the wheel, there are situations when it might be a good idea to do just the opposite. If everyone literally abided by the diktat to not re-invent the wheel, would we today have the myriad types of wheels we encounter and use in our everyday lives ... think of how the wheels we know of today have evolved, aided by scores of re-inventions of the wheel so to speak; from stone, wood, iron, steel to John Dunlop's pneumatic tyre and further enhanced versions such as radials, tubeless, etc. Re-inventions can also be helpful in aiding learners to better learn their subjects in-depth, especially when there is the time & inclination to do their own explorations. Of course, as is evident ... no rule is an exception to the rule which states that There's an Exception to every Rule.  There's little thats truly sacrosanct and unchangeable or would not benefit...
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To change things ...
2007-09-30 09:58:00
... change the way you look at them."When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Sometimes, "paradigm shifts" in the way we think and approach things, circumstances and people, is the need of the hour especially when we desperately seek after change. Oftentimes, we labor hard and long trying to change the outside world & other people, trying to get "them" to conform to our views and ways. In many instances the results of our endeavors are not spectacular either. What else do we need to do to get the "other party" to change ... why does it seem so hard to "change others" ? How about trying to change someone over whom we just might have some extra bit of control ? "If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself, not other people. It is easier to protect your feet with slippers than to carpet the whole of the earth", said Anthony De Mello whose words seem apt in this context. Albert Einste...
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The Hare and the Tortoise ... a fable
2007-09-25 12:36:00
Here's a version of the popular story of the Hare and the Tortoise ! , which i wish to share here. This "expanded version" of the fable has some interesting lessons ...Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster .They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realized that he'd lost the race.The moral - "Slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with."THE STORY DOESN'T END HEREthere are few more interesting things.....it continues as follows......The hare was disappoi...
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To avoid being disillusioned ..
2007-09-24 07:51:00
.. stop having illusions.How often have each of us been disillusioned with at least some of the people around us, the ones we interact with ? Hindsight, they say is 100% right; in hindsight, some or many of our disillusionment experiences may have stemmed from our own illusions and false or unrealistic expectations we've harbored about the way people ought to act, react and interact upon, to and with us. In this context, it seems apt to remember the statement, "To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it."As Abraham Maslow put it, "There are no perfect human beings! Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, and even great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers, and movers... even if they are uncommon and do not come by the dozen. And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry, or depressed..."Is'nt it then, about time we adjusted...
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Emotional Intelligence (EI/EQ)
2007-09-22 12:44:00
I must admit, EQ has been one of the subjects i've been interested in. In this (fairly long) post, i've tried to present some views & thoughts around this subject. Although most of these views may seem to lean towards Leaders and Managers, these are fairly generic to be applicable to anyone at any level in an organization. A short note before delving into this subject : the ideas expressed herein are not all my creation and have been sourced from other wiser souls who have traversed the path of learning this subject and i've attempted to hopefully add some value by compiling the ideas and thoughts and adding a little spice / local flavor here. If after reading this post, you are interested in this subject and want to make your own explorations i would suggest you read, Daniel Goleman's book Working with Emotional Intelligence . With that introduction, lets now move into the meat and main substance of this post -“Emotional intelligence refers to the capacity ...
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Inspiring quotes for the day !
2007-09-21 06:01:00
Two thought provoking quotes for the MOTD section  ...The first one by Anthony Robbins, describes the expected level of "commitment-to-act" and the second quote by Goethe, calls for action ... now ! Inspirational thoughts to start off the beautiful new day."I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life's greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret." ~ Anthony Robbins"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.  Begin it now." ~ Goethe |   Slashdot It! | Submit to del.icio.us
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Usability Testing
2007-09-20 11:01:00
Here's an attempt to talk a little bit about "Usability Testing ".We begin by taking a quick look at the term, Usability. According to the Usability Professionals' Association, "Usability is an approach to product development that incorporates direct user feedback throughout the development cycle in order to reduce costs and create products and tools that meet user needs."Usability testing provides the opportunity to receive feedback from the very people the application is meant for. And, the consequences of building something without getting user feedback is obvious to anyone who's in the industry !Whilst planning for Usability Testing, its easy to constrain it to be more of a "Validation" type technique. Usability testing & the information gathered from the exercise, should serve to make informed design & development decisions right from the outset, thereby acting in more of a "preventative" role. The idea in the case o...
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Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well
2007-09-19 19:05:00
"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well." said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, whose words resonate with the title of this message ...."Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well" !Ultimately, if something's worth doing, its worth doing extraordinarily well !
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Either you run the day or the day runs you
2007-09-18 19:02:00
Apt reminder to start off each day !Jim Rohn's quote "Either you run the day or the day runs you" - serves as a great reminder to plan and prioritize ... also helps avoid fighting fires which we probably could have avoided in the first place (agreed some fires seem unavoidable !) and also takes time away from performing those activities that are "important but not urgent", such as the Quadrant II activities that Stephen Covey talks about in his top-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."The key is not to prioritize what's in your schedule, but to schedule your priorities."
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Need for Speed Underground 2
2007-09-16 11:33:00
After a long time, decided to unwind over the weekend and do something I have not done for sometime now ... the idea was to go back in time and indulge in a long forgotten pastime ... gaming ! Visited a computer store and while browsing the games on display, stumbled upon the Need for Speed series (NFS) ... i recall having last played Need for Speed 3 about 8-9 years ago and then it was my former boss at work, who introduced me to the game (Here I must admit i've had some real good bosses all through my career ... honest!)  ... turns out he liked gaming a lot and spent a small fortune on his gaming systems at home. Weekends would be spent in long gaming sessions and sometimes we even had his boss pitch in too ! ... must admit these hyper-competitive, informal sessions were great fun ! Seeing the NFS game CDs triggered a wave of nostalgia ... I picked up Need For Speed Underground 2 (decided to try U2 before moving to Carbon) and felt almost a decade younger Frankly, liked ...

Attitude
2007-09-15 10:20:00
The importance & effect of Attitude on a person's life, can never be emphasized enough. Attitudes are often-times called as mirrors of the mind. Accomplishment, as Prof. Erwin Schell put it, is not solely determined by competence & facilities, but instead requires the vital catalyst ... i.e. Attitude. Well, why am I talking about Attitude ? This is a topic about which several tomes have been written about, umpteen lectures made and papers published ... yet one thing that's missing is ... the realization of its importance has not permeated to every section of our society. A case-in-point was a recent conversation I had with an auto-rickshaw driver on the streets of Bangalore city. This is how the journey (er.. conversation) went ... few days ago, whilst waiting for a ride - i flagged down an empty auto-rickshaw which was making its presence felt all over town, the reason being, the driver was "playing" some movie songs at full volume on speakers that i mus...

Wayanad Trip
2007-09-13 18:36:00
Well, its been a few days since i've posted anything ... partly due to the hang-over from a recent team outing to Wayanad  located in God's own country a.k.a. the beautiful and very green state of Kerala. For those interested, here's a real quick summary of our trip ...About 10 of us from our team, started from Bangalore at around 7:00 AM on a bright Saturday morning. We had hired a Force Traveller to ferry all of us to Wayanad.On the way, we stopped at the Shivalli restaurant for breakfast. We passed through Mysore city and traversed through Bandipur forestReached Sultan Bathery, our destination in just about 6 hours since we left BangaloreWe stayed at the Orchid Resort, initially in the thatched huts to experience nature first hand - but a short rain later (when some of the huts leaked a little), we moved to contemporary concrete dwellings with plumbing and electricity ... frankly, i was very happy to stay in familiar environs !After a super Kerala style m...
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